Differentiate between vaccine stockout and vaccine runout and how to resolve them?
Question: Differentiate between vaccine stockout and vaccine runout and how to resolve them?
Vaccine stockout and vaccine runout are two terms that describe different situations of vaccine availability. A vaccine stockout occurs when there is no vaccine available at a certain level of the health system, such as the national, regional or district level. A vaccine runout occurs when there is no vaccine available at the service delivery point, such as a health facility or an outreach site. Both situations can have negative consequences for immunization coverage and equity.
According to a study by Lydon et al. , every year on average, one in every three WHO Member States experiences at least one stockout of at least one vaccine for at least one month. The vaccines most affected are DTP containing vaccines and BCG. They account for respectively 43% and 31% of stockout events reported. While national level vaccine stockouts occur in countries of all income groups, middle income countries are the most affected. In 80% of cases, national level stockouts were due to reasons internal to countries, such as government funding delays, delays in the procurement processes, and poor forecasting and stock management.
When a national level stockout of vaccines occurs, there is an 89% chance that a subnational stockout will occur at district level. More concerning is that if a district level stockout occurs, this will lead to an interruption of vaccination services in 96% of cases. This means that many children and adults may miss their scheduled vaccinations or drop out of the immunization programme altogether.
To prevent vaccine stockouts and runouts, countries need to ensure adequate funding, timely procurement, accurate forecasting, efficient distribution, and effective monitoring of vaccine supply and demand. Additionally, countries can benefit from participating in mechanisms such as COVAX, which aims to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for all countries . However, vaccine inequity remains a major challenge, as some high-income countries have secured more doses than they need, while many low- and lower middle-income countries have not received enough doses to vaccinate their priority groups .
Vaccine stockouts and runouts are not only a threat to public health, but also a violation of the right to health. Therefore, it is imperative that all stakeholders work together to ensure that essential vaccines are always available when needed.
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