Toward a decision support system for COVID-19 vaccine allocation inside countries

Abstract

The distribution of COVID-19 vaccines has proved to be a challenging task for public health authorities in many countries. Among several decisions involved in the task, allocating limited available vaccines to administration points is indeed critical. However, the operation management literature lacks evidence-based mathematical models that could support effective, efficient, sustainable and equitable vaccine allocation decision. This paper develops the fundamentals of a decision support system for COVID-19 vaccine allocation inside countries. The proposed DSS intends to support public health authorities in real-time by illustrating possible vaccine alternatives. The system could also inform and support other actors in the COVID19 distribution for planning and collaboration. Two illustrative cases for the COVID-19 vaccine allocation have been investigated to highlight potential benefits of our methodology.