Is there an unnecessary vaccine bottleneck?
As the nation anxiously awaits the vaccine rollouts, a rare limelight shines on Supply Chain & Operations professionals. As a professor in this field, I am a bit stumped by a potential oversight in the basic application of the Theory of Constraints. Although I’ve attempted to stay abreast of vaccination plans, I’ve seen nothing referencing increased antibody testing in advance of vaccine distribution. I understand that the antibody tests are not perfect & there may only be as little as 3 months of protection after infection. However, it seems that antibody tests could be incorporated into the multifaceted vaccine distribution plan to ensure we aren’t “wasting” the initial critical rounds of vaccines on those who already have protective antibodies.
***Bottlenecks 101 - Do not send any unnecessary “product” (people) through the bottleneck (vaccine queue). Every vaccine counts. Every minute counts.
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