All tagged coronavirus

THE COVID-19 VACCINE: Does it Come with 2 Day Free Shipping?

THE COVID-19 VACCINE: Does it Come with 2 Day Free Shipping?

Shraiy Gupta
Economics

Coronavirus has uprooted life for most people and penetrated into every aspect of our lives. New working from home policies, virtual learning, mask mandates, politics, and communication are focused on the raging pandemic. Current data suggests that the worldwide death toll has surpassed 1.34 million deaths, with 254,000 of those being within the US alone [1]. However, there has been hope on the horizon. Pfizer and Moderna have made incredible strides, creating a vaccine that is 95% and 94.5% effective at treating the Coronavirus. While the fact that a vaccine has been discovered is amazing, there is still a huge issue: distribution. With the spread of Coronavirus, the world's optimized supply chain network took significant damage. Now, it is this same crippled system that will be placed in charge of distributing the cure to the Coronavirus. This article intends to highlight the current issues with the distribution network and potential issues to resolve before the vaccine distribution.

All Eyes on the Middleman 

All Eyes on the Middleman 

Ethan Plasker
Finance

The race to produce a vaccine for COVID-19 is coming to a close finish as drugmakers await FDA approval for their vaccines and distributors await massive shipments to issue across the globe. McKesson is a “global leader in healthcare supply chain management solutions” and is currently under contract with the United States government for $568 billion to produce supply kits with needles, syringes, and personal protective equipment for business related to the COVID-19 pandemic (LaVito, 2020). Traditionally, McKesson partners with healthcare organizations to match their products and services to the right customers in a timely, safe, and cost effective manner (McKesson, 2020). The healthcare company was also chosen as the central distributor by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to supply the government’s Operation Warp Speed (OWS), which is an accelerated vaccine process designed by the government this year. This unprecedented task at slating the completion timeline for the vaccine process to 14 months as opposed to the typical 73 months will come at a great challenge (Figure 1, defense.gov). We are at a critical point in the process with Phase III clinical trials in the rearview. With the spotlight on McKesson, we will look to them for updates on the vaccine distribution process in the coming weeks, but for now, let us dive into what that might look like.