Last Mile Distribution of COVID-19 Vaccines: A Cold Chain Logistical Challenge

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global health and humanitarian crisis that has wreaked havoc on economies and industries around the world. This study aims to address the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines at the last mile by evaluating the vaccine supply chain and how it can be effectively utilized to address the last mile distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines through simulation. The first part includes a systematic literature review and bibliometric study of vaccine supply chain and cold chain logistics studies conducted in the last decade. The second part examines the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in Norway as a case study. The study develops a two-stage optimization simulation method to analyse and improve the logistical performance of the COVID-19 vaccine distribution in Inland County, Norway. The study analyses the impact of fleet size and the use of heterogeneous vehicles in the last mile distribution network on some key performance indicators. The findings from the study reveal that the service level, transportation costs and environmental performance of the vaccine logistics system are significantly influenced by routing decisions, fleet size, fleet composition and the types of heterogeneous vehicles used. Based on the findings from the study, some managerial insights are outlined to help logistics managers better understand the interactions between the key parameters of a cold chain vaccine distribution system.