COVID-19 Vaccine Supply Chain Traceability Can Ensure Safe Global Distribution

For many years, world institutions have been trying to unite healthcare stakeholders to solve the issues affecting the drug and vaccine supply chain.
The global COVID-19 pandemic is occurring in an era when the reach of technology allows us to reinvent and deploy more efficient and secure ways to distribute drugs and vaccines to all who need them.
How can we guarantee vaccines are authentic and safe for distribution?

Supplying a vaccine to the global population will pose many challenges, including supply chain security and product verification. A viable solution will need to address issues such as counterfeiting, theft, hijacking and illegal diversion of vaccines.

The US has set up a task force to help secure the supply chain, Operation Warp Speed

BENEFITS

Distributor

• Maximize use of existing pharmaceutical distribution infrastructure
• Central distributor established for kitting and distribution operations
• IT infrastructure supports ordering, distribution, administration and end-to-end tracking
  Distribution Facilities
• Vaccines and associated ancillary kits (syringes, needles and alcohol swabs) will be shipped concurrently to distribution depots and facilities Administration Sites
• Vaccines, once cleared for distribution by health authorities, will be ready to ship to:
  • Pharmacies
  • Nursing homes
  • Public clinics
  • Hospitals
  • Doctors’ offices and mobile clinics
  • Military treatment facilities
    Pharmacovigilance measures will include 24-month post-trial monitoring for adverse effects/issues that may require additional safety features.

Track-and-trace technology suppliers, such as OPTEL GROUP, have developed and deployed hardware and data infrastructure to support this and other initiatives to slow down the spread of COVID-19 while putting in place the technological foundation of digital healthcare supply chains to ensure safe and equitable access to life-saving drugs and vaccines now and in the future.

OPTEL’s track-and-trace platform now integrates data analytics and human engagement technologies to answer other challenges in the healthcare supply chain, such as combating gray-market diversion, cold chain monitoring, inventory control, digital recalls, adverse effect reporting, etc.

A single platform, usually deployed by country, captures data along the supply chain to create a control tower for all cases, with dashboards, reporting and alerts, for real-time action on:

• Flow of vaccines from manufacturer-border to dispensing points
• Inventory level and dwell time at each distribution and logistics stakeholder
• Redirection of inventory in real time
• Immediate recalls at national, regional or local levels
• Local view of immunization campaign effectiveness
• Adverse effect reporting from nurse and patient

OTHER BENEFITS of a digital traceability platform for vaccines:

• Applicable to any drug
• Real-time detection of epidemic (targeted medication usage)
• Digital and granular recalls
• Education on drug usage
• Monitoring of drug usage
• Education and motivation on post-treatment procedures
• Detection of incorrect prescriptions
• Real-time detection of adverse effects (pharmacovigilance)
• Interaction with other drugs or life habits
• Personalized medicine
• Leveraging of AI for understanding and predicting

OPTEL SOLUTIONS

Dedicated to solving problems, OPTEL develops and implements traceability solutions to help companies achieve greater transparency and efficiency in their supply chains. Are you interested and want to understand more about the traceability solutions that OPTEL offers?

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