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1. Introduction
With the advent of the novel coronavirus, it has been wreaking unpredictable and multi-dimensional impacts on societies and economies worldwide. The first case of COVID-19 infection was reported in December 2019 in Wuhan, Central China, and the subsequent research suggested its origin by an interface of humans and animals (Sarker et al., 2021). The contagious nature of the virus has further aggravated the problem and has led to the spread of the infection across national boundaries (Sarker et al., 2021). This has promulgated the World Health Organisation (WHO) to declare the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic on March 11, 2020 (Khot, 2020). The outbreak has affected society and the economy, including education, social events, businesses, international trade and supply chains across the globe (Haleem et al., 2020; Mohanty and Mishra, 2021). The number of COVID-19 active cases globally soared to 286.97 million and over 5 million deaths were reported on December 31, 2021. The total number of COVID-19 cases has risen above 34 million in India till December 31, 2021 (Worldometer, 2020; MoHFW, 2021). The fast spread of the disease has forced governments to devise policies on emergency protocols implementing strict measures to shut down international and intra-state boundaries, social distancing measures, closing down schools, shutting down marketplaces, and restricting social and religious congregations. In India, the Government had to implement a comprehensive lockdown in a phased manner (at par with experiences from China, South Korea, Singapore etc.) with phase-1 from March 25, 2020 to April 14, 2020; phase-2 from April 15, 2020 to May 3, 2020; phase-3 from May 4, 2020 to May 17, 2020 and phase-4 from May 18, 2020 to May 31, 2020 (https://www.mohfw.gov.in/). Considering the far-reaching consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare (HC), society and the economy, governments are reopening their economies in a phased manner. India also had to reopen its economy by extending the lockdown further in containment zones and reopening with a prohibited set of activities outside these zones (https://www.mohfw.gov.in/). Amidst the lockdown and even after reopening the economy, healthcare supply chain (HCSC) is facing many challenges to prevent and control the COVID-19 pandemic, as the prominent suppliers are facing difficulties to meet the demand for health equipment and essential medical supplies.