What’s new: The UPS Foundation donated 22 portable ultra-cold storage freezers to the Nigeria Ministry of Health, driving equity and ensuring vaccines are delivered to remote communities safely and securely.
Why it matters: Efforts to reach these underserved communities are paramount when only 25% of the African continent is fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Bolstering cold chain infrastructure with portable freezers is steadily reducing vaccine loss and increasing accessibility.
While COVID-19 spread throughout the world, the pandemic has not impacted all populations equally. UPS has delivered over 1.5 billion COVID-19 vaccines globally with more than 50 million of those to vulnerable areas with limited resources. UPS also helped deliver nearly 600 portable cold chain freezers and vaccine carrying cases to countries with the most urgent storage needs.
Collaboration is key: Through public and private partnerships like this one, UPS has been able to take initiatives that bridge gaps in vaccine access and expedite distribution of critical medicines in hard-to-reach areas of the world.
UPS logistics experts are also working around Africa as part of the UPS Experts on Mission program. These professionals host trainings and provide resources on how to solve supply chain challenges, including how to develop cold chain proficiency in remote areas. We’ve so far trained 340 ministry workers in in Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Zambia, Malawi and Mauritania, and we are working to develop safe vaccine waste management solutions across the Africa.
Go behind the scenes and hear what it’s meant to the UPSers who’ve had a hand in this important work.
Did you know: The UPS Foundation has pioneered new delivery programs to reach underserved populations, including through on-demand access to quality healthcare as well as COVID-19 vaccine doses by drone in Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria via The UPS Foundation partnerships with Zipline & Gavi, and Malawi via our partnership with Swoop Aero and VillageReach.
Find out more on our progress toward equitable distribution around the world in the related stories below. And be on the lookout for more on how UPS is delivering hope and moving our world forward by delivering what matters.