Optimal distribution and waste management of Covid-19 vaccines from vaccination centers’ satisfaction perspective – A fuzzy time window-based VRP

Abolfazl Maleki, Vahid Hemmati, Seyed Reza Abazari, Amir Aghsami and Masoud Rabbani

Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 2024, vol. 183, issue C

Abstract: Due to the unforeseen outcomes of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the adoption of essential policies and tactics to implement public vaccination programs has gained attention worldwide. Statistics indicate that medical waste production is growing dramatically, posing a major risk to both individuals and the environment if not properly handled. In this context, we present a sustainable fuzzy multi-objective, multi-period, multi-product, and location-allocation model that considers both the vaccine distribution phase and the medical waste management process. The model addresses the capacitated and multi-depot vehicle routing problem (VRP) with heterogeneous vehicles. Moreover, as a new social aspect from vaccination centers’ perspective, a fuzzy version of the time-window is considered in the model to integrate both satisfaction level and priority of the nodes that must be visited. Subsequently, the augmented ε-constraint, TH method, and LP-Metric approach are utilized to solve the proposed multi-objective model. To provide empirical support for the model’s input parameters and evaluate the effectiveness of the solution strategies, data for a medical supply chain network (MSCN) in Iran is used. The results demonstrate that shifting the vaccination centers’ desired time to be serviced might be a suitable solution to stop the emission rate from increasing or the satisfaction levels from falling.

Keywords: COVID-19 vaccine supply chain design; Medical waste management; Fuzzy time window-based VRP; Multi-objective mathematical programming (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1366554524000449
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:transe:v:183:y:2024:i:c:s1366554524000449

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600244/bibliographic
http://www.elsevier. ... 600244/bibliographic

DOI: 10.1016/j.tre.2024.103454

Access Statistics for this article

Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review is currently edited by W. Talley

More articles in Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().