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Q&A: MIT Operations Researcher Talks COVID-19 Vaccination Hurdles KEREN SOOKNE, DIRECTOR OF EDITORIAL CONTENT
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round the world, scientists and citizens alike are hoping for a COVID-19 vaccine. Dr. Anthony Fauci is “cautiously optimistic that we will have a vaccine within a reasonable period of time, not only from Moderna, but from other companies too.” Healthcare Packaging spoke with MIT’s Dr. David Simchi-Levi, an operations research scientist who has thought through some of the challenges of preparing for the vaccine rollout. His research currently focuses on developing and implementing efficient techniques for logistics and manufacturing systems.
HCP: What do you feel is that first hurdle that people are overlooking in distributing an effective vaccine? Dr. David Simchi-Levi: The vaccine rollout has many different challenges. I’ll start with some of the observations about the vaccine development. Part of the challenge is making sure that we focus on the safety of the vaccine itself in providing long-term protection for all the people. There are several technologies considered for the vaccine. When we talk about product, we don’t know which one will be July/August 2020 • Healthcare Packaging | 19
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