What is eVIN and how will it be used for distributing Covid-19 vaccines?

India is gearing up for a large-scale Covid-19 vaccination program. The Central government has now informed the Chief Ministers that it was focusing on Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN) in collaboration with United Nations Development Programm to detect primary beneficiaries.

eVIN is developed by UNDP with the support of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. It  is a technology system that digitises vaccine stocks and monitors the temperature of the cold chain through a smartphone application.

It provides real-time update on vaccine’s location and inventory, thereby helping the government to take informed decisions. The indigenously developed state-of-the-art technology can be run through the smartphone App.

According to Zee News, It has been implemented across 21 states and union territories.The cold chain handlers at various points in the distribution network are provided smartphones with the eVIN application installed in them, for the digitisation of vaccine stock.

On a regular basis, each cold chain handler is required to enter the net utilisation for each vaccine in the standardised registers at the end of every vaccination day.

It is simultaneously updated in the eVIN application and through it,  uploaded on a cloud server which can then be viewed by programme managers at district, state and national level through online dashboards, thereby providing real-time information on vaccine inventories.

However, eVIN is not a new concept. According to News18, India has been using this technology in aiding its universal immunisation programme since 2015. United Nations Development programme is supporting eVIN since 2017.

It is also supported by GAVI – the Vaccine Alliance and the project aims to streamline and regularise the vaccine flow network by ensuring data-driven and efficient management of the immunisation supply chain.

The Centre has begun its preparations for introduction of Covid-19 vaccine and a National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC) has been formed as the highest group that will guide the strategies for vaccine introduction.