UPS announced its partnership with McKesson to transport and deliver the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine as part of its continuing involvement with COVID-19 vaccine delivery efforts.

UPS noted that through contracts with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response to support Operation Warp Speed, McKesson is the centralized distributor for non-ultra-frozen COVID-19 vaccines and ancillary supply kits.

Under its agreement with McKesson, UPS will begin delivering Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, which today (December 18) received a U.S. Food and Drug Administration Emergency Use Authorization.

“This is a critically important initiative for UPS, and we are committed to delivering what matters for as long as it takes,” says Carol Tomé, CEO of UPS. “McKesson is a valued UPS Healthcare partner, and we will continue to leverage the strength of our network to safely and efficiently get these life-saving vaccines and supplies to their final destination.”

Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine is the second in the US to be deployed in a months-long global race to develop safe treatments against the spread of the virus after Pfizer secured the same approval for emergency use on December 12.

“This is a historic logistics feat and UPS Healthcare is honored to play a role in this effort,” says Wes Wheeler, president of UPS Healthcare.

“Our mantra is ‘Quality Focused. Patient Driven’ and we know that at the end of each vaccine journey is a patient seeking hope and relief from this pandemic. We take our pivotal role in this ongoing campaign seriously.”

UPS ready to deliver vaccines in Europe

In a separate statement, UPS announced that the European Medicines Agency has authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and said UPS Healthcare’s cold chain storage and transportation competencies are ready and on standby to assist with deliveries throughout Europe.

“With our UPS Healthcare campus and freezer farms in the Netherlands and our European air hub situated nearby in Cologne, Germany, we are moving the world forward to deliver what matters most to help Europe stamp out this pandemic,” its said.

UPS noted that its has more than 10 million square feet of cGMP- or cGDP-compliant healthcare distribution space globally. UPS Healthcare services include: inventory management, temperature-controlled packaging and shipping, storage and fulfillment of medical devices, labs and clinical trial logistics.

UPS Healthcare’s global infrastructure, its newest UPS Premier visibility service, its track and trace technology, and its global quality system are well-suited to meet today’s complex logistics demands for the pharmaceutical, medical device and laboratory diagnostic industries.