Logistics of Covid-19 vaccines: main challenges in theory and practice

Lucas Lages Peter; Lucas Schroeder; Fabíola Negreiros de Oliveira; Adriana Leiras

doi:10.1590/0103-6513.20220036

Thematic Section - Resilient and innovative operations management

Logistics of Covid-19 vaccines: main challenges in theory and practice

Lucas Lages Peter; Lucas Schroeder; Fabíola Negreiros de Oliveira; Adriana Leiras

http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0103-6513.20220036 Production, vol.33, e20220036, 2023

PDF

Downloads: 0

Abstract

Paper aims: This paper presents the literature findings of the Covid-19 vaccines supply chain, its main challenges and best practices, which are compared and verified empirically.

Originality: The questionnaire developed in this study provides new empirical data about the Covid-19 vaccines supply chain, especially regarding the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic in the chain, as these events are still recent.

Research method: A questionnaire was sent by e-mail to specialists working with the Covid-19 vaccine supply chain in South America. Each response was compared to the literature findings.

Main findings: Despite the challenges faced by vaccination programs, some countries have achieved good results due to strategies adopted at the beginning of their immunization campaigns. The empirical research confirmed that literature findings match business reality, although some empirical results vary depending on the scenario of the country regarding the impacts of the pandemic.

Implications for theory and practice: This paper summarizes the Covid-19 vaccine supply chain and its challenges, best practices of the most successful countries regarding the immunization process, providing a better understanding of the pandemic scenario. Some empirical data corroborate the literature, and some discrepancies allow the formulation of suppositions that may be tested in future studies.

Keywords

Pandemics, Covid-19, Vaccination, Cold chain, Supply chain

References

Abramovich, P. (2021, March 3). Chile leads the pack in Latin American vaccine campaign. CTVNews. Retrieved in 2022, March 4, from https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/chile-leads-the-pack-in-latin-american-vaccine-campaign-1.5331958

Amanat, F., & Krammer, F. (2020). SARS-CoV-2 vaccines: status report. Immunity, 52(4), 583-589. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2020.03.007.

Brasil. Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Departamento de Imunização e Doenças Transmissíveis. (2014). Manual de normas e procedimentos para vacinação. Brasília: Ministério da Saúde.

Brasil. Conselho Nacional de Saúde. (2020, April 7). Recomenda a observância do Parecer Técnico nº 128/2020, que dispõe sobre as orientações ao trabalho/atuação dos trabalhadores e trabalhadoras, no âmbito dos serviços de saúde, durante a Emergência em Saúde Pública de Importância Nacional em decorrência Doença por Coronavírus - COVID-19 (Recomendação Nº 020, de 07 de Abril de 2020). Diário Oficial da República Federativa do Brasil. Retrieved in 2022, May 24, from http://conselho.saude.gov.br/recomendacoes-cns/1103-recomendac-a-o-no-020-de-07-de-abril-de-2020

Brasil. Ministério da Infraestrutura. Agência Nacional de Transportes Terrestres - ANTT. Diretoria Colegiada. (2021). Altera o Anexo II da Resolução nº 5.867, de 14 de janeiro de 2020, em razão do disposto no § 2º do art. 5º da Lei nº 13.703, de 8 de agosto de 2018 (Resolução nº 5.923, de 18 de Janeiro de 2021). Diário Oficial da República Federativa do Brasil.

Canadian. Ministry of Health. (2021, January 5). COVID-19: vaccine storage and handling guidance. Ontario: Ministry of Health. Retrieved in 2022, March 4, from https://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/pro/programs/publichealth/coronavirus/docs/vaccine/vaccine_storage_handling_pfizer_moderna.pdf

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - CDC. (2021a). U.S. COVID-19 vaccination program: vaccine channel portfolio by jurisdiction. Atlanta: US Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved in 2022, May 24, from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/distributing/jurisdiction-portfolios.html

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - CDC. (2021b). Vaccine storage and handling toolkit. Atlanta: US Department of Health and Human Services.

Choi, Y., Stall, N. M., Maltsev, A., Bell, C. M., Bogoch, I. I., Brosh, T., Evans, G. A., Grill, A., Hopkins, J., Kaplan, D. M., McGeer, A., Moran-Gilad, J., Nowak, D., Presseau, J., Salmon, A., Schwartz, B., & Juni, P. (2021). Lessons Learned from Israel’s Vaccine Rollout. Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. https://doi.org/10.47326/ocsat.2021.02.09.1.0.

Costa, C. G. F., Teixeira, C. R., Souza, C. M. V., Fontainha, T. C., & Leiras, A. (2017). Análise da cadeia de suprimento de vacinas no Brasil. In Anais do II Congresso Brasileiro de Redução de Risco de Desastres. Rio de Janeiro, RJ.

Deutsche Welle. (2021, February 16). Israel’s clever coronavirus vaccination strategy. Deutsche Welle. Retrieved in 2022, May 24, from https://www.dw.com/en/israels-clever-coronavirus-vaccination-strategy/a-56586888

DHL Research and Innovation GmbH - DHL. (2020). Delivering pandemic resilience. How to secure stable supply chains for vaccines and medical goods during the covid-19 crisis and future health emergencies [DHL White paper]. DHL Research and Innovation GmbH. Retrieved in 2022, May 24, from https://www.dhl.com/content/dam/dhl/global/core/documents/pdf/glo-core-delivering-pandemic-resilience-2020.pdf

Embassy of the United Arab Emirates - UAE-Embassy. (2021). Health care. Washington: Embassy of the United Arab Emirates. Retrieved in 2022, May 24, from https://www.uae-embassy.org/about-uae/health-care

Emirates News Agency. (2020, December 28). MoHAP to connect 'Riayati' platform with other medical records, including Nabidh’ and ‘Malaffi’. Emirates News Agency. Retrieved in 2022, May 24, from https://www.wam.ae/en/details/1395302898232

Financial Times. (2021). Chile powers ahead in Covid-19 vaccination race. Financial Times. Retrieved in 2022, May 24, from https://www.ft.com/content/c4c97a9b-2b52-4f97-8c33-7f9103171319

Gevaers, R., Van de Voorde, E., & Vanelslander, T. (2011). Characteristics and typology of last-mile logistics from an innovation perspective in an urban context. In C. Macharis & S. Melo (Eds.), City distribution and urban freight transport. Cheltenham, Reino Unido: Edward Elgar Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.4337/9780857932754.00009.

Golan, M. S., Trump, B. D., Cegan, J. C., & Linkov, I. (2021). The vaccine supply chain: a call for resilience analytics to support COVID-19 vaccine production and distribution In I. Linkov, J. M. Keenan & B. D. Trump (Eds.), COVID-19: systemic risk and resilience. risk, systems and decisions (pp. 389-437). Cham: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71587-8_22.

Gunn, T. (2020, April 23). How the cold chain could prove vital in fight to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. Canada: NS Healthcare. Retrieved in 2022, May 24, from https://www.ns-healthcare.com/analysis/cold-chain-coronavirus-vaccine

Hubbard, B. (2020, September 17). Once a COVID-19 vaccine is discovered, the hard part begins. USA: Fortune. Retrieved in 2022, May 24, from https://fortune.com/2020/09/17/covid-vaccine-distribution-cold-chain/

Khaleej Times. (2020, December 19). Covid-19 vaccine: UAE firms encourage staff to get jab. Dubai: Khaleej Times. Retrieved in 2022, May 24, from https://www.khaleejtimes.com/coronavirus-pandemic/covid-19-vaccine-uae-firms-encourage-staff-to-get-jab

Lamenza, A. A. D. S., Fontainha, T. C., & Leiras, A. (2019). Purchasing strategies for relief items in humanitarian operations. Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management, 9(2), 151-171. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JHLSCM-09-2018-0060.

Liu, Y., Gayle, A. A., Wilder-Smith, A., & Rocklöv, J. (2020). The reproductive number of COVID-19 is higher compared to SARS coronavirus. Journal of Travel Medicine, 27(2), taaa021. https://doi.org/10.1093/jtm/taaa021.

McKee, M., & Rajan, S. (2021). What can we learn from Israel’s rapid roll-out of COVID 19 vaccination?. Israel Journal of Health Policy Research, 10, 5. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13584-021-00441-5.

National Institutes of Health - NIH. (2020, September 23). Fourth large-scale COVID-19 vaccine trial begins in the United States. Bethesda: NIH. Retrieved in 2022, May 24, from https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/fourth-large-scale-covid-19-vaccine-trial-begins-united-states

Oliveira, F. N., Leiras, A., & Ceryno, P. (2019). Environmental risk management in supply chains: a taxonomy, a framework and future research avenues. Journal of Cleaner Production, 232, 1257-1271. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.06.032.

Our World in Data. (2021a). COVID-19 Data Explorer. Our World in Data. Retrieved in 2022, May 24, from https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/coronavirus-data-explorer?zoomToSelection=true&pickerSort=desc&pickerMetric=new_deaths_per_million&Interval=7-day+rolling+average&Relative+to+Population=true&Align+outbreaks=false&country=~OWID_WRL&Metric=Case+fatality+rate

Our World in Data. (2021b). Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccinations. Our World in Data. Retrieved in 2022, May 24, from https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations

Plotkin, S., Robinson, J. M., Cunningham, G., Iqbal, R., & Larsen, S. (2017). The complexity and cost of vaccine manufacturing - An overview. Vaccine, 35(33), 4064-4071. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2017.06.003.

Randolph, H. E., & Barreiro, L. B. (2020). Herd immunity: understanding COVID-19. Immunity, 52(5), 737-741. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2020.04.012.

Sanofi. (2019, September). Manufacturing vaccines is a complex journey. Paris: Sanofi. Retrieved in 2022, May 24, from https://www.sanofi.com/en/your-health/vaccines/production

Schiffling, S., & Breen, L. (2021, January 11). COVID vaccine: some waste is normal - but here’s how it is being kept to a minimum. Australia: The Conversation. Retrieved in 2022, May 24, from https://theconversation.com/covid-vaccine-some-waste-is-normal-but-heres-how-it-is-being-kept-to-a-minimum-152772

Smith, G., Michelson, J., Singh, R., Dabbagh, A., Hoekstra, E., van den Ent, M., & Mallya, A. (2011). Is there enough vaccine to eradicate measles? an integrated analysis of measles-containing vaccine supply and demand. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 204(Suppl 1), S62-S70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jir130.

Syal, R. (2021, February 14). U.A.E. and Israel have world's fastest vaccination programs — what can the West learn from them?. Canada: CBC. Retrieved in 2022, May 24, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/uae-israel-vaccination-1.5903244

TRT World. (2021, February 16). What is behind Chile’s successful vaccination program?. İstanbul: TRT World. Retrieved in 2022, May 24, from https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/what-is-behind-chile-s-successful-vaccination-program-44219

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2021). The operation warp speed strategy for distributing a COVID-19 vaccine. USA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved in 2022, May 24, from https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/strategy-for-distributing-covid-19-vaccine.pdf

Velavan, T. P., & Meyer, C. G. (2020). The COVID‐19 epidemic. Tropical Medicine & International Health, 25(3), 278-280. https://doi.org/10.1111/tmi.13383.

World Health Organization - WHO. (2019, April 8). Revising global indicative wastage rates: a WHO initiative for better planning and forecasting of vaccine supply needs. Geneva: WHO. Retrieved in 2022, May 24, from https://www.who.int/immunization/programmes_systems/supply_chain/resources/Revising_Wastage_Concept_Note.pdf?ua=1

World Health Organization - WHO. (2020, October 6). Lo que sabemos sobre el desarrollo de la vacuna contra la COVID-19. Geneva: WHO. Retrieved in 2022, May 24, from https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/risk-comms-updates/update37-vaccine-development.pdf?sfvrsn=2581e994_6

Zhou, F., Yu, T., Du, R., Fan, G., Liu, Y., Liu, Z., Xiang, J., Wang, Y., Song, B., Gu, X., Guan, L., Wei, Y., Li, H., Wu, X., Xu, J., Tu, S., Zhang, Y., Chen, H., & Cao, B. (2020). Clinical course and risk factors for mortality of adult inpatients with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China: a retrospective cohort study. The Lancet, 395(10229), 1054-1062. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(20)30566-3.

Submitted date:
03/04/2022

Accepted date:
08/31/2022

Logistics of Covid-19 vaccines: main challenges in theory and practice

Lucas Lages Peter; Lucas Schroeder; Fabíola Negreiros de Oliveira; Adriana Leiras

Abstract

Keywords

References

Links

Share

Production