Not Throwin' Away My Shot: COVID-19 Vaccine Manufacturing and Deployment

On this week’s podcast episode, we get back to COVID-19 vaccine discussions, but with a different angle: focusing on the vaccine manufacturing, development, and deployment pipelines. We start with the U.S. and global statistics for vaccination rates, and then focus on a discussion of the parameters that impact the access to vaccines for countries around the world. We summarize the currently utilized vaccines globally and which countries are utilizing them, before focusing on the bottlenecks through the entire vaccine deployment process. We focus on bottlenecks encountered in manufacturing and supply chain of raw materials, bottlenecks with regard to personnel needed across all phases of a vaccination campaign, and bottlenecks involved with distribution and storage. We discuss some of the plans, both in the U.S. and globally, that are being implemented to address the current roadblocks, and some of the ways in which the world can address vaccine equity.

PLEASE NOTE: The discussion and information provided in this podcast are for general educational, scientific, and informational purposes only and are not intended as, and should not be treated as, medical or other professional advice for any particular individual or individuals.  Every person and medical issue is different, and diagnosis and treatment requires consideration of specific facts often unique to the individual.  As such, the information contained in this podcast should not be used as a substitute for consultation with and/or treatment by a doctor or other medical professional.  If you are experiencing any medical issue or have any medical concern, you should consult with a doctor or other medical professional. 

Further, due to the inherent limitations of a podcast such as this as well as ongoing scientific developments, we do not guarantee the completeness or accuracy of the information or analysis provided in this podcast, although, of course we always endeavor to provide comprehensive information and analysis. In no event may Unbiased Science or any of the participants in this podcast be held liable to the listener or anyone else for any decision allegedly made or action allegedly taken or not taken allegedly in reliance on the discussion or information in this podcast or for any damages allegedly resulting from such reliance.

RESOURCES

• Covid Dashboard

• Challenges in Ensuring Global Access to COVID-19 Vaccines: Production, Affordability, Allocation, and Deployment

• Businesses Across The Supply Chain Must Work Together to Make Covid-19 Vaccines

• BioNTech Has Announced 13 Manufacturing Partners in Europe to Expand Manufacturing

• Urgent Needs of Low-Income and Middle-Income Countries for COVID-19 Vaccines and Therapeutics

• FEMA Defense Production Act

• Biden-Harris Statement on Vaccine Supply and Deployment

• Global COVID-19 Vaccination Tracker

• CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Tracker

• COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker: Authorization and Development

• UN Press Release on Vaccine Inequity

• Jonas Neubert Blog: Supply Chain for mRNA Vaccines

• GAVI - COVAX Program

• Shortages of Materials and Supplies Hinder COVID-19 Vaccine Manufacturing

• The COVID-19 Vaccine Supply Chain: Potential Problems and Bottlenecks

• A Vial, a Vaccine and Hopes for Slowing a Pandemic: How a Shot Comes to Be

• Developing mRNA-Vaccine Technologies

• The Promise of mRNA Vaccines: A Biotech and Industrial Perspective