Published Online:June 2024
Product Name:The IUP Journal of Supply Chain Management
Product Type:Article
Product Code:
Author Name:Monirul Islam
Availability:YES
Subject/Domain:Strategic
Download Format:PDF
Pages:14
The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted significant challenges in global vaccine distribution, particularly in India due to its vast geography and high population density. This paper explores sustainability issues within India’s vaccine cold supply chain (VCSC), using a multi-criteria framework to assess the economic, social, and environmental factors in this regard. Data was gathered from primary healthcare centers (PHCs), government records, healthcare agencies, and interviews with key stakeholders to evaluate distribution costs and community impact. The findings reveal disparities in vaccination efficiency between urban and rural areas, with urban areas benefitting from better services and lower costs. Social justice issues persist in remote areas, besides irregular coverage. The study identifies the need for improved infrastructure, green logistics technologies, and coordinated stakeholder efforts to enhance sustainability and efficiency in vaccine distribution. With the pandemic over, the focus is now on distribution of vaccines in general, which requires a cold supply chain. Addressing these challenges can improve India’s vaccine cold supply chain and public health outcomes.
The Covid-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the global supply chain until recently. However, the pandemic has rekindled interest among stakeholders in sustainable supply chain (SSC) networks and sustainable practices (Dwivedi et al., 2022). The pandemic stimulated researchers and specialists to reassess supply chain sustainability. After 2020, a substantial amount of research and investigation has been conducted, most of which has focused on the impacts of Covid-19 on supply chain sustainability concerns and adopting measures to improve these conditions (Taqi et al., 2020; and Karmaker et al., 2021). In addition to economic success, sustainable supply chains are assessed based on their social and environmental outcomes. The triple bottom line of businesses has been impacted by the Covid-19 epidemic, which has upended the foundations of social, ecological, and economic sustainability. The impact on developing countries was greater, with financial interests and employment considerations taking precedence over eco-friendly concerns. Supply chain network interruptions across the industries have resulted in significant economic impacts, with some non-essential businesses still in a recovering phase (Sarkis, 2020; Kumar et al., 2021; and Ali et al., 2022)