NFC and HF RFID technologies help protect vaccine delivery and apply to verifiable vaccination certificates

NFC and high frequency (HF) RFID tags are small, mass-produced electronic tags used to verify authenticity and confirm safe handling, helping to protect vaccine delivery. On the other hand, NFC security tags can be used to issue verifiable vaccination certificates.

How labels work

NFC and HF RFID tags can be affixed to the transport packaging box or pallet that carries the vaccine bottle. When the plastic button is embedded, it can be affixed to the seal of the actual vaccine bottle, so that the goods can be tracked and the place of production can be verified. Both NFC and HF RFID operate on the 13.56 MHz frequency band, but support different standards and read ranges to be used in a variety of fields. The reading range of the NFC tag is close to a few centimeters, and it can be read with a standard NFC mobile phone. HF RFID tags allow the use of remote readers to achieve a nearby reading range of up to 1.5m, including compatibility with NFC phones.

For some time, high-demand, expensive drugs, such as antibiotics, anti-cancer drugs, vaccines, and antiviral drugs, have been common targets for counterfeiting, tampering, and gray market transfers. Even before the pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimated that about 10% of all medicines sold worldwide were counterfeit products. Europol found in its November 2020 report that the distribution of substandard and counterfeit medicines, including the COVID-19 vaccine, is still a consistent criminal activity related to the epidemic. These fake vaccines can be circulated on the illegal market and may be introduced into the legal market for sale.

高频射频ID and NFC tags can help reduce the risk of counterfeiting and product transfer to unauthorized channels by achieving secure product identity verification at the box and item level, as well as improving traceability and accountability in the supply chain. Electronic tamper-proof seals and labels can be affixed to vaccine packages at the point of manufacture to prevent unauthorized opening. The label has its own unique ID, can be assigned to specific distributors and locations, and can report its source and intended destination at any point in the supply chain.

高频射频ID tags based on ISO/IEC 15693 can reliably track, trace and verify vaccine products throughout the supply chain with project-level accuracy. The technology can also uniquely identify each item, even when multiple items pass the reading position at the same time (anti-collision), it can safely capture data without line of sight, making it easier and faster to transfer the goods Move to the correct position in the channel. This technology helps to detect the loss of inventory, determine whether the return originally came from a specific manufacturer, and helps prevent gray market shifts. And HF RFID can also track the batch number and expiration date of the goods.

NFC tags based on ISO/IEC 14443 and HF RFID tags using the NFC protocol can also support item-level authentication using mobile phones. At present, there are about 2 billion NFC smart phones in the world that are widely used. Due to the high popularity of NFC-enabled smartphones, this form of authentication does not incur any costs for special readers, and anyone who participates in the authentication process can perform it at any time. Just use a smart phone that supports NFC, just tap the NFC tag that appears on the phone screen, and government inspectors, warehouse workers, distributors, or healthcare providers can verify the authenticity of the product and view the whereabouts of the product or batch . The security label solution has a built-in encryption function that can provide a high degree of protection against fraud attempts.

As we begin to fight the COVID-19 pandemic through rapid vaccination around the world, pharmaceutical companies are playing an important role in protecting the supply chain and successfully providing ready-to-use immunizations. NFC and HF RFID tags can verify the authenticity of vaccines, report the status of transportation in real time, help ensure vaccine data processing and safe storage, and support the delivery of vaccines to patients in a safe and effective manner. At the same time, the NFC security label helps to confirm people's vaccination status, and the verifiable vaccination certificate can also report the vaccination status safely and privately.