Vaccines from Above: How Zipline is Aiding COVID-19 vaccinations in Ghana

Vaccinating people in urban or peri-urban areas is relatively easy. Where things get complicated is getting the vaccine to people in rural and remote areas. For that reason, some governments have partnered with private companies to implement innovative solutions. One of such partnerships has been that between the Ghanaian government and Zipline. Zipline was founded in 2014 to increase access to medical and consumer products globally through the use of drone technology. They have partnered with the Rwandan government to support the country’s blood delivery network and conducted on-demand home delivery for retail companies like Walmart. But more recently, they have partnered with the Ghanian government to help deliver COVID-19 vaccines to remote areas.

In this episode, I speak with Zipline Ghana to understand the nature of Zipline’s contribution to the covid-19 vaccinations. I think it's important that we highlight this partnership with the Ghanian government bc it further emphasizes the promise that public-private partnerships hold in successfully carrying out large-scale vaccinations and other public health interventions.

Guests: Kwaku Amoatin and Sammy Akufuo of Zipline Ghana

Useful resources:

• Zipline, Pfizer and BioNTech Collaboration Paves the Way for Automated, On-Demand Delivery of First mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines in Ghana


• Self-flying drones are helping speed deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines in Ghana


• Drones Ferry Pfizer’s Precious, Deep-Frozen Vaccine to Africa’s Remote Villages

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