An Analysis of Critical Factors Influencing the Supply, Logistics and Distribution of Covishield and Covaxin Vaccines

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has created new opportunities for pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors., It has also challenged the global supply chain that will impact world-wide roll-out strategies of the vaccine. The main responsibilities of supply chain are to ensure vaccine storage, handling, temperature control, logistics and maintenance of information systems. Supply chain sector is facing unprecedented challenges in world-wide massive vaccine distribution. There are potential pitfalls in several links associated with pharmaceutical supply chain from the manufacturers to the distributors, to the carriers, to the final destination.  In India, Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech are the two main vaccine manufacturers which produce Covishield and Covaxin respectively. This research paper is aimed to re-assess the vaccination program, identify the issues and suggest an agile strategy to implement a continuous, rapid and effective vaccination. The main purpose of this research study is to critically analyze the constraints in the process at the local vaccination centers. This study compares the Supply, Logistics & Distribution of Covishield and Covaxin vaccines at the 3 selected categories of vaccination centers in Mumbai. The different variables like stakeholders, their designation, area of focus and sample size are determined. Questionnaire is designed to collect data from stakeholders viz. healthcare workers, volunteers, and vaccinated individuals. Statistical techniques are used to analyze the data with the emphasis on key indicators like distribution of Covishield and Covaxin, vaccine slot registration, and logistics and distribution strategies at selected vaccination centers. Analysis of data is executed using SPSS software. Test of reliability, ANOVA and F-test are applied. Findings of this study reveal the issues and challenges at the local vaccination centers in the hope that policy makers will consider as key for efficient implementation of vaccination program.