Supply Chain

Since the early days of the pandemic, attention has focused on producing a vaccine for COVID-19. With one, it's hoped it will be able to suppress the virus without relying purely on economically challenging control measures. Without one, the world will probably have to live with COVID-19 as an endemic disease. It's unlikely the coronavirus will naturally burn itself out.

When Marshall Fisher recently reviewed the outline of his planned lecture series on global supply chain management at Wharton Business School which begins this month, he realised it required some extensive reworking. “I swallowed hard, decided to throw away the course and start again,” says Mr Fisher, professor of operations, information and decisions. He has since updated almost half his 13 scheduled classes with fresh examples linked to coronavirus. “I thought I just can’t teach the same course again. Every time you open the newspaper you see Covid and supply chains.”

BRINK spoke to Julie Swann, a senior advisor to the CDC on the last national vaccine distribution in 2009 for the H1N1 flu vaccine. She is a professor at North Carolina State University and co-founder of the Center for Health and Humanitarian Systems at Georgia Tech.

Anna Nagurney, Ph.D. (University of Massachusetts) joins the CareTalk Podcast to explain why COVID vaccines will require cold chain logistics and whether or not the US is properly equipped to supply the vaccines when they become available.

Anticipation of a covid-19 vaccine is growing. The National Academy of Medicine issued the report “Framework for Equitable Allocation of Covid-19 Vaccine,” offering guidance on vaccine allocation. The process is certain to be fraught with politics, given that equitable, safe and effective all represent critical, albeit subjective criteria to assess the vaccine allocation process and meet the requirements of the vaccine supply chain.

One of the painful discoveries of the COVID-19 pandemic was how vulnerable U.S. supply chains are, demonstrated most vividly by the shortage of critical medical supplies and equipment. Supply chain experts agree that measures must be taken to ensure the supply chain of the future becomes more resilient and can withstand another national crisis.

To bring COVID-19 under control a vaccine needs to be available to every nation, rich and poor – and it needs to happen quickly. But pharmaceutical breakthroughs are usually the result a slow process involving competition, secrecy, risky investments and extensive trials. Changing any big industry to speed its processes up is going to be difficult. But there are signs that substantial changes are underway – and they may be here to stay.

Just like a fresh piece of fish, vaccines are highly perishable products and must be kept at very cold, specific temperatures. The majority of COVID-19 vaccines under development—like the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines—are new RNA-based vaccines. If they get too warm or too cold they spoil. And, just like fish, a spoiled vaccine must be thrown away. So how do companies and public health agencies get vaccines to the people who need them?

Recently, the White House released its COVID-19 vaccine distribution strategy through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Defense (DoD). The two departments, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), stated their plan provides a “playbook” for state and local public health programs on how to plan and operationalize a vaccination program for COVID-19.

Ultra-cold freezers are suddenly a hot commodity. One of the most advanced US coronavirus vaccines, created by Pfizer in partnership with BioNTech, has to be stored at -70° Celsius (-94° Fahrenheit), or around 30°C colder than the North Pole in winter. It’s far from certain that the vaccine will be approved for widespread distribution. But if it is, very few freezers go that cold.