Blockchain is Set to Lend a Hand to COVID-19 Responses — But Where, How and Why?

By Pete Harris, Executive Director, Austin Blockchain Collective

As I write this blog, deaths globally due to COVID-19 are estimated at nearly one million. Health experts here in the US are suggesting that a vaccine should be available to everyone by the third quarter of next year. Meanwhile, some pharmaceutical company executives reckon that vaccines might take another 3 years to be distributed globally. How many deaths will this pandemic account for before it is snuffed out? It’s a big, terrifying number.
​
That’s the direct human life cost. The global business collapse caused by the pandemic will impact many — probably most of us— over the next few years. A surge in unemployment, poverty, hunger, mental and physical illness are very likely. Civil unrest, regime change and even geopolitical land grabs are possible. The recovery is not going to be a V curve — methinks the affects of COVID-19 will be felt across the globe for a decade or longer.

For sure there will be gloom and doom to contend with. But there is also the promise of overcoming the pandemic and its massive fallout. Innovation in bioscience, healthcare, supply chains and technology is already playing a critical role in the comeback — and at a bold and rapid pace not witnessed since the Apollo space program.

---

Read More