In December 2021, UPS surpassed the one billion COVID-19 vaccine doses delivered mark with near-perfect on-time delivery. Just one year after the first vaccine was delivered by UPS, this milestone was made possible through UPS' innovative approaches, one-of-a-kind UPS® Premier tracking technologies, industry-leading cold chain solutions, and an expansive, sophisticated, global network providing UPS Healthcare™ services to customers and communities around the world.
"UPSers have been essential in the fight against COVID-19, delivering equitable access to critical healthcare services" said Chief Sales and Solutions Officer and Executive Vice President, UPS Global Healthcare Kate Gutmann. "This milestone would not have been possible without every person in our global network working tirelessly, alongside our partners and customers, to accelerate vaccine distribution and help keep communities as safe as possible."
The global UPS network and dedicated UPS employees not only supported healthcare customers and global organisations, but also joined in public-private partnerships to provide vaccines and cold chain expertise to countries with hard-to-reach populations, ensuring delivery to as many people as possible. To achieve this, UPS Healthcare mapped roughly 500 trade lanes to enable seamless worldwide vaccine shipments and used more than three million pounds of dry ice to help safely move vaccines.
"UPS Healthcare have set the global pace for COVID-19 vaccine delivery, supported by the unmatched dedication of UPSers and the company's global logistics capabilities and expertise," said UPS Healthcare President Wes Wheeler. "Medicines derived from biologics and delivered via cutting edge cold chain networks represent the future of healthcare, and UPS Healthcare are leading the way."
Unique examples of these global efforts include:
- Ultra-cold freezer donations and in-kind vaccine deliveries to facilitate equitable distribution to remote and rural areas throughout Africa, South America, Asia, North America, and Europe, made possible by The UPS Foundation.
- Three Regional 24/7 UPS Healthcare Command Centres, dedicated to predicting and managing the global vaccine movement to ensure on-time delivery, with contingency plans and solutions to mitigate the risks of extreme weather and other obstacles
- Partnering with Gavi and other organisations to train and manage ultra-cold vaccine movement in COVAX countries, supporting COVID relief and healthcare infrastructure moving forward
- Delivery of COVID-19 vaccines outside of the U.S. managing 4,500 movements through the UPS network and commercial partners since the first vaccines were made available. These flights, coordinated by UPS Global Freight Forwarding, add capacity to the already extensive UPS Airlines network and provide customers with even greater worldwide reach at a time when equitable vaccine distribution is key to global health.
- Embedded UPS logistic experts in countries including Indonesia and Malawi to fully and safely manage vaccine distribution logistics
- UPS support of vaccine doses delivered via autonomous aircraft to clinics in Africa through the partnership between Zipline and Gavi.
- Real-time visibility into the location of vaccines through UPS® Premier technology, which provides precise visibility into every single vaccine package – down to within 10 feet of its location anywhere in the UPS global network
- Supported over 130 vaccine clinical trials to date through the UPS Healthcare subsidiary Marken, which is involved in nearly all vaccines and treatments in development today.
"Service is in our DNA. We will continue to provide life-saving supplies, vaccines and other therapies with a constant eye on equitable distribution in every country we serve," said Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Laura Lane, who also has responsibility for global social impact and sustainability.
Learn more about UPS' global vaccine distribution and watch the video titled "Faces of One Billion" at About.UPS.com.
About UPS Healthcare
UPS Healthcare delivers unparalleled healthcare logistics expertise to its customers around the world. UPS Healthcare has 11+ million square feet of cGMP and GDP-compliant healthcare distribution space globally. Its services include inventory management, cold chain packaging and shipping, storage and fulfilment of medical devices, and lab and clinical trial logistics. UPS Healthcare's global infrastructure, its UPS® Premier visibility service, its track and trace technology, and its global quality system are well-suited to meeting today's complex logistics demands for the pharmaceutical, medical device, and laboratory diagnostic industries.
