Zipline, the world’s first and only national-scale drone delivery service, started delivering COVID-19 vaccines to selected health facilities in Ghana on Tuesday.
Ghana is the first country in the world to use drones to distribute COVID-19 vaccines on a national scale.
On February 23rd, The COVAX Facility shipped 600,000 units of AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine, from Serum Institute of India (SII) in Pune, India to Accra, Ghana.
The first shipment of the COVAX vaccine was sent to Accra for delivery, entering an ambitious initiative to deliver at least two billion doses of the COVAX vaccine to low- and middle-income countries by the end of 2021.
The Government of Ghana is using Zipline’s network to provide rapid, equitable healthcare across its population.
Nearly half of Ghana’s population lives outside of towns, and reaching those 12 million people with time-sensitive, cold-chain-dependent vaccines is difficult. Zipline’s network, according to a statement sent to the Ghana News Agency on Tuesday, provided Ghana with a resilient, effective, and equitable distribution strategy.
“Zipline CEO and co-founder Keller Rinaudo said, “We are proud to be a part of this significant milestone in Ghana, where our drone logistics network is able to provide on-demand, last-mile delivery of COVID-19 vaccine at scale across the world.”
“Not only will Ghana be the first country in the world to use drones to deliver COVID-19 vaccines on a national scale, but it will also be a major step toward ensuring equal access and allowing Ghana to fully leverage its healthcare system to deliver vaccines. ”
“This, without a doubt, is an exciting moment for Africa,” said Daniel Marfo, Snr Vice President, Zipline Africa. We are pioneering the use of innovative drone technology to provide medical supplies and vaccines on-demand to those who need them most.
“For many countries, achieving nationwide, equal distribution, especially to remote and difficult-to-reach areas, is a daunting task. However, in Ghana, the current health infrastructure, as well as Zipline’s existing network, allows for fast and secure distribution to those areas.
“We are fortunate to be doing this with the Ministry of Health, the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the UPS Foundation as our main partners. We assume that with this action, Ghana will be able to deliver the vaccine as efficiently and equitably as possible,” said Naa Adorkor Yawson, General Manager of Zipline Ghana.
The vaccines were delivered to the Zipline distribution center by UPS, which is also providing in-country ground delivery support to the government’s regional cold stores, according to the release.
The vaccines were flown on-demand to health facilities in the Ashanti region once they arrived at the Zipline distribution center in Mpanya, according to the release.
According to the Ghana Health Service, Asuofua Health Centre was the first to receive COVID-19 vaccines through Zipline’s drone delivery, and more health facilities and dosing centers will be added in the coming days.
COVID-19 Response and Zipline-Ghana Partnership
Ghana first partnered with Zipline in 2019, creating the on-demand logistics service in four strategic locations to reach nearly half of the country’s population and some of the country’s most difficult-to-reach regions.
Since its launch in 2019, Zipline Ghana has completed over 50,000 deliveries, dispensing over 450,000 medical supplies and nearly 1 million regular vaccine doses in 2020 alone.
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Zipline started shipping COVID-19 test samples to Accra and Kumasi in April 2020.
This was the first time autonomous drones were used to make routine long-range deliveries into heavily populated urban areas, as well as the first time COVID-19 test samples were delivered by drones.
Ghana also used Zipline in December 2020 to quickly distribute personal protective equipment (PPE) to Ghana’s poll workers for the presidential election, according to the statement. Zipline began distributing personal protective equipment (PPE) less than 24 hours after receiving the government’s request for assistance, and in less than 48 hours had distributed PPE across the region, allowing polling stations to open safely and hundreds of thousands of Ghanaians to vote.
Zipline is the world’s first national-scale, instant drone delivery service, with the goal of delivering essential medical supplies to every person on the planet. Zipline’s unmanned aircraft system is developed, manufactured, and operated in the United States, and the company is working toward FAA type certification for its drones and air carrier certification for its US operations.
Temasek, Baillie Gifford, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, GV, The Rise Fund, a global impact fund operated by TPG, Katalyst Ventures, Toyota Tsusho Corporation, and Stanford University are among the most well-known investors in Zipline.
SOURCE: ATLFMONLINE
