Vaccine traceability: Key learnings from the supply chain initiative by manufacturers from emerging countries

Abstract

The use of global standards, and the placement of barcodes and data matrix codes on vaccine labels and other levels of packaging are crucial elements for the traceability of finished vaccine products. Vaccine manufacturers are committed to improving health through their products, as vaccine production offers opportunities that can be leveraged to benefit immunization systems. In 2019 the Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network (DCVMN) created the Supply Chain Initiative aimed at prioritize and explore traceability opportunities; concomitantly procurement agencies announced traceability requirements for vaccine global supply. Vaccine traceability brings benefits including supply chain reliability and safety through enhanced product movement visibility, and a reduction of falsified and expired vaccines circulating in the supply chain. DCVMN has coordinated the development and implementation of global traceability standards, at both primary and secondary vaccine packaging levels, to encourage and enable sharing these experiences. Six pilot studies in four different countries showed successful implementation, and constituted part of larger vaccine traceability work within the respective organizations. The main findings from these pilot studies indicated that stepwise approaches to the adoption of traceability standards allowed vaccine manufacturers to learn by doing, initially with lower risk, and to spread their investments over time. Because the value of traceability is in its scale of adoption and the use of the data, it remains important for all stakeholders to engage in and prioritize the journey of vaccine traceability, but also to suitably manage the financial risks. The DCVMN Supply Chain Initiative has demonstrated that its members are committed to driving supply system changes that benefit immunization, while recognizing that supply chain traceability is part of a larger healthcare ecosystem and should be adopted by countries and immunization programmes as well.