Drones ferry Pfizer’s precious, deep-frozen vaccine to Africa’s remote villages

Pfizer’s collaboration with Zipline dates back to before the pandemic, when the companies began working together in 2019 to bring essential medicines to hard-to reach communities. — Zipline

Over the dense forests and cocoa farms of Ghana’s Ashanti region, a fleet of drones hummed en route to the African country’s central Bosomtwe District. Upon reaching their destination Sunday, the red-and-white aircraft parachuted thermal packages containing cargo that’s long been awaited by the local Kokodei community: vials of Pfizer Inc’s Covid-19 vaccine.

In the coming days, these drones will shuttle tens of thousands of the shots developed by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech SE to some of Ghana’s most rugged, remote countryside as part of an effort to provide more equitable access to doses. Every four minutes, from dawn until dusk, drones operated by Zipline Inc will depart from its distribution centers bearing the immunisations. It’s been tasked with bringing doses to 40% of Ghana’s population.