UPS Healthcare: new delivery capacity for COVID-19 vaccines

 UPS has announced an expansion of healthcare capabilities at its Polar Speed subsidiary, with a new 100,000 square foot state-of-the-art healthcare logistics facility in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

UPS Healthcare is leveraging Polar Speed’s comprehensive healthcare expertise to help address the increasing need for last-mile COVID-19 vaccine delivery and other healthcare logistics support.

“Polar Speed is an important part of the UPS Healthcare global logistics network,” said UPS Healthcare President Wes Wheeler. “From this new facility, Polar Speed is already scheduled to deliver three million influenza vaccines each week into General Practitioner (GP) Surgeries and Community Pharmacies. This new delivery capacity is now immediately available to also support COVID-19 vaccines for distribution across the country.”

“Polar Speed’s capacity, technology and services enable us to provide streamlined and flexible solutions for the healthcare industry in the UK. We are proud to be a part of the solution in defeating COVID-19,” Wheeler added.

While vaccinating the UK population against COVID-19 is undoubtedly complex and unprecedented, Polar Speed’s forward-thinking approach, combined with more than 20 years of experience has positioned the company to solve the challenges of an ever-evolving supply chain. Polar Speed already delivers millions of vaccines in vehicles controlled at 2°C to 8°C, and the company is ready to support the UK government with immediate storage capacity. Polar Speed’s healthcare drivers maintain on-board and remote alert systems with GPS tracking for end-to-end visibility of each delivery, and the company’s fleet maintains appropriate temperature control for each delivery, as specified by the MHRA, to hospitals, doctors, pharmacies and patients at home.

The combined hub, depot, and warehouse facility is a significant investment in the UK and will be staffed by more than 100 employees, with capacity to store 8,000 pallets at a range of temperatures from 2^°C to 8^°C and 15^°C to 25^°C, and frozen storage capacity ranging from -20^°C to -80^°C, allowing it to store up to 25 million vaccine doses.