Drones are now being used to deliver COVID-19 vaccines in US

Operated by UPS and its subsidiary, UPS Flight Forward, the drones are delivering vaccines from Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston Salem to one of the health system’s family medicine practices located at Piedmont Plaza, around a one mile [1.6km] drive by car.

When transporting the COVID-19 vaccines, the Matternet M2 drone is outfitted with a special cargo box that contains Cold Chain Technologies’ customized PCM Gel solution, a temperature-sensitive packaging mixture that maintains the COVID-19 vaccine at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius, and a temperature monitoring device that monitors the vaccine’s temperature while in transit.

The customized cold chain packaging adheres to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines on the handling, storage and transportation of the COVID-19 vaccine.

And the logistics company said its drone airline received a first-of-kind approval from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to carry alkaline and…