Oxygen logistics in India: A pandemic response

The second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic had a devastating impact. Many lives were lost, primarily because there was not enough oxygen therapy support that would give time to the infected individuals to enable their bodies to fight the infection. The failure is attributed simultaneously to insufficient production capacity and poor logistics support. We reflect on this crisis, especially from an Indian perspective, as India was one of the most seriously impacted countries. We are driven in our exploration by the question – Did we do all that was there in our hands to fight the second wave? And assess how prepared we are to be for any possibility in the future. Studying the events that unfolded during the first and the second Covid wave, we find that it was not possible for the logistics supply chain to match the sudden spurt in demand for medical oxygen during the second wave. Further, while we have an action plan in place, the plan limits the extent to which it can match the uncertainty of oxygen demand. However, the limits are expandable and can be planned for higher levels before the demand-supply gaps become too broad.