Analysis of the Distribution of Vaccine Using Department of Defense Assets Versus Contracts With Private-Sector Delivery Companies

Abstract

It is not a question of if the next pandemic influenza outbreak will strike, but when. The current plan for vaccine distribution that the Department of Defense (DoD) has in place is to extend contracts to civilian delivery companies such as the United Parcel Service (UPS) and Federal Express (FedEx). According to the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza signed by President Bush in 2005, as much as 40% of the population could be incapacitated if a pandemic influenza were to occur in the United States. If the DoD depends on civilian delivery companies to distribute the vaccine, it will be competing with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) (responsible for distributing vaccine to the civilian population) for use of these services. This thesis will analyze whether it might be safer and more efficient to use DoD assets to make vaccine deliveries during a pandemic situation, instead of extending the usual delivery contracts with FedEx and UPS at a time when the availability and reliability of civilian delivery companies may be compromised.