Covid Vaccines Are New. The Challenges of Reaching Everyone Are Not.
For fair distribution of a coronavirus vaccine, trust and access are key. U.S. community health centers have both.
The Covid-19 vaccine from the first batch of Moderna's vaccine is seen at Hartford hospital in Hartford, Connecticut on December 21, 2020. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)
The biggest challenge in the mass vaccination effort for coronavirus won’t be logistics. Commercial firms manage complex logistics for specialized medications and vaccines daily, at scale, and exceptionally well.
At Direct Relief, we perform the same functions for humanitarian health purposes, delivering life-saving medicines requiring cold-storage and handling to people in all 50 states and 80 countries, often after emergencies and in areas where commercial activities don’t have a strong business reason to engage – insulin for kids with Type 1 diabetes in Sudan, cancer drugs for children in Malawi, and flu vaccine for island-wide vaccination campaigns in Puerto Rico.