G. Anthony Hylton | Needed Urgently: A plan to distribute COVID-19 vaccines

The latest development concerning the coronavirus pandemic is the pending approval in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, China, and elsewhere, of several vaccines with the potency to immunise individuals against the infection and spread of the coronavirus. This development has been widely anticipated for several weeks or months now as we followed the human trials of the vaccines and news of their exceptional performance in those trials. So the decision by the UK Ministry of Health to issue emergency-use authorisation for the Pfizer-manufactured drug and the anticipated authorisation for emergency use of the Moderna-manufactured drug, along with news of the five vaccines being manufactured in China, should come as no surprise to anyone, much less the minister and officials of the Ministry of Health and Wellness here in Jamaica who are charged with monitoring developments concerning the prevention and spread of the pandemic.

The question must be asked: Why then is the minister and his health team appearing to be scrambling to put a plan in place for the supply, distribution, and administration of the vaccine? This sense of urgency was created recently when the minister in answer to a question posed to him in the House of Parliament a few weeks ago, responded by indicating that a committee was only then being put together to develop such a plan. Last Tuesday past the minister returned to the House to announce the establishment of the National COVID-19 Vaccine Commission (NCVC), comprising a multidisciplinary and multistakeholder group of persons. The terms of reference of the NCVC is, inter alia, to “provide guidance and oversight in the development of a National COVID-19 Deployment and Vaccination Plan for the introduction of COVID-19 vaccines”

It further informs that the elements of a National Deployment and Vaccination Plan should include, i nter alia, “vaccine cold chain and logistics”.

It seems clear to me that given the logistics and supply-chain challenges inherent in the procurement, transport, distribution, and administration of the vaccine, we have fallen way behind in putting such a plan in place. This is so even though the minister has advised that the vaccine will not be available in Jamaica until April 2021, at the earliest. Notwithstanding, the implications are significant since the continued spread of the virus is certain to take place until and unless a vaccine(s) is/are introduced to the population to break the cycle of infection, illness, hospitalisation, and death, not just here in Jamaica, but globally.

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACTS

The measures introduced here in Jamaica, and elsewhere, have had adverse social and economic impacts locally and globally, resulting in the interruption of lives, and increased loss of livelihood. The sooner the vaccine is made available, the sooner the population and the economy will resume a semblance of normality and begin to build back better. The slower-than-expected response of the Administration to these latest developments suggests a lack of appreciation of the logistics and supply-chain requirements, storage demands, and all the other challenges yet to be resolved to allow for the successful deployment of the vaccine.

First, the vaccines are temperature-sensitive and must be transported, stored, and used at prescribed temperature ranges (as low as ultra-cold minus 70 degrees Celsius) lest they lose their efficacy and become useless. Even for countries with developed logistics infrastructure, the cold-chain infrastructure required for each of the candidate vaccines developed so far is proving to be inadequate, requiring the further expenditure of hundreds of millions of US dollars by governments and private enterprises to respond adequately to these challenges.

Second, the security requirements for moving this much -sought-after and hence valuable product, when made available, should not be overlooked. Failure to put in place the required security measures could prove to be too attractive for undesirable elements in our society to ignore. The risks of theft of and tampering with the vaccine are not to be ignored.

Third, the chain of custody and control will require the deployment of the latest technologies such as the internet-of-things (IoT), sensors, and artificial intelligence (AI) for real-time tracking and tracing of this valuable cargo. Our already stressed telecoms infrastructure may not be up to the task unless special provisions are made to accommodate this most urgent exercise. Additionally, the normal procedures at Customs may have to be suspended, amended, or waived to ensure the efficient and timely movement of the vaccine across borders.

The central point is that the supply and logistics challenges in making available the vaccine to the Jamaican population under optimum conditions cannot be underestimated, and the early indication is that the Government and private-sector interests are already late out of the starting gate.

It is in our collective interest, therefore, that this situation be remedied very quickly if we are to overcome the inertia towards putting the logistics and supply chain measures in place as effectively and efficiently as required to save time and money in the distribution of a truly life-saving vaccine.

Everything rides on this!

G. Anthony Hylton, opposition spokesman on industry, investment, and global logistics; and leader of opposition business in the House of Parliament and member of Parliament for Western St. Andrew. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com