COVID-19: Supply Chain’s vaccine distribution hubs
If you think of a car without gas, then you will have some understanding of how important the Saskatchewan Health Authority Supply Chain’s operations are to the provincial health system.
One of Supply Chain’s areas of responsibility is to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine. Challenges include storage requirements as the vaccine travels to its final destination, as well as the large geographical area to cover. The vaccine distribution hub model was chosen as the most effective method to distribute the vaccine.
“Each hub is responsible for receiving the vaccine and ensuring it’s stored properly. Personnel at the hubs includes a health care professional to assist in packaging the vaccine,” said Perry Froehlich, Logistics Lead, Vaccine Distribution, Saskatchewan Health Authority. “The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine requires a special freezer to maintain it at an ultra-cold temperature (-80° Celsius), while Moderna’s doesn’t have the same requirements, making it better for rural distribution.”
Beyond the vaccine, all other vaccine-related supplies are also ordered, received and then redistributed to local sites – where the vaccine is actually administered - through the vaccination hubs.
“Redistributing the vaccine requires Supply Chain personnel to coordinate routes by both land and air, and to work with couriers to ensure that the vaccine is where it needs to be,” noted Froehlich. “Beyond the logistics of moving the vaccine, there is also the necessary communication to inform all parties as to what to anticipate and when.”
We’d like to say thank-you to our Supply Chain teams. Without you, we’d be like the car with no gas.