Richard Wilding, Professor of Supply Chain Strategy at Cranfield School of Management, has cautioned that there is still a “significant challenge” ahead in terms of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccination’s supply chain.
Prof Wilding made his comments after welcoming news that the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine has been approved in the UK and the plans in place for its roll-out.
He said: “The vaccination needs to be kept at -70C, which has required the development of ultra-cold boxes as this temperature range falls outside of the normal cold supply chain.
“These boxes also use dry ice, which will need to be replenished before more vaccinations can be moved through.
Prof Wilding continued: “In addition to the vaccine itself, the other elements of vaccination centres need to be coordinated to meet the demands; syringes, needles, PPE, waste removal, for example.
“These multiple supply chains will need to be well-choreographed to enable people to receive the vaccination.
“The scale of what is being attempted is huge; the vaccination will not instantly be available everywhere to everyone, but the Time to Volume will be helped with the additional approval of other vaccines, which already have support infrastructure in place and so are easier to manage.”
