Bengaluru-based Intugine Technologies will work with the government of Andhra Pradesh to ensure distribution of COVID-19 vaccine across the state.
The logistics technology provider will use portable GPS devices to facilitate real-time tracking of vaccines in transit. Intugine CEO Harshit Shrivastava said:
“Vaccine distribution is a temperature-critical process and therefore transit times have to be controlled. The government of Andhra Pradesh has taken a smart and proactive step towards minimising transit times through real-time visibility and exception response.”
Intugine provides real-time tracking and supply chain optimisation solutions to the likes of Philips, Flipkart, Mahindra Logistics and Arvind Fashion. Intugine’s platform facilitates route planning and vehicle allocation, digital indenting, in-warehouse tracking, in-transit tracking, digital invoicing, and data-driven planning.
Vaccine supply chain across the globe is expected to face theft and counterfeiting risks. The AP government aims to build safeguards against such risks.
National Health Mission Director for the AP government Bhaskar Katamneni said: “We wanted to establish control over long-distance movement of vaccines from the state storage centre to different district storage centres. We wanted to monitor this movement in real time and ensure a timely response in case of any unforeseen exceptions.”
Intugine had previously played an important role in containing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2020, Intugine had repurposed its real-time visibility solution to help Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Nagaland, Goa, Meghalaya, and Madhya Pradesh, among others, to monitor home-quarantined individuals and ensure social distancing.
“Intugine’s COVID response is rooted in a sense of duty,” said Co-founder Ayush Agrawal. “We’re drawn to challenging problems that have a positive impact on our community. Last year we facilitated the monitoring of over six lakh home-quarantined individuals without flouting any privacy considerations. This year we aim to facilitate efficient distribution of vaccines across the country.”
Intugine is in talks with several other states to implement a similar real-time visibility solution for vaccine distribution.