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UPS and CVS to Use Drones to Deliver Prescription Drugs in Florida
Logistics company UPS has partnered with CVS in an effort to help those in need. They plan to deliver prescription drugs using drones to The Villages, a retirement community in Florida.
“UPS (NYSE:UPS) and CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS.N) today said UPS subsidiary UPS Flight Forward (UPSFF) will use drones to deliver prescription medicines from a CVS pharmacy to The Villages, Florida,” read a report from UPS Pressroom. The supplies are for “the largest U.S. retirement community, home to more than 135,000 residents.”
Using Drones
New from me: @UPS granted approval for scalable, nationwide, unlimited drone/pilot delivery service. Will use ground-based radar for DAA, scale to hospital campuses around the country.https://t.co/QZHPTUDM5i
— brian garrett-glaser (@bgarrettglaser) October 1, 2019
This is the latest development in UPS's Flight Forward drone service.
“Our new drone delivery service will help CVS provide safe and efficient deliveries of medicines to this large retirement community, enabling residents to receive medications without leaving their homes,” UPS Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer Scott Price said in a statement.
He also expressed UPS's commitment to doing its role in helping fight the current pandemic. Price then said it's their way of supporting frontliners customers with innovative solutions.
The first drone flights in The Villages will have supplies half a mile from the area's CVS. They are then delivered to homes via ground vehicle.
“Now more than ever, it’s important that our customers have access to their prescriptions,” said CVS VP and COO Jon Robert. “In addition to our in-store pickup, free delivery services and drive through pickup, this drone delivery service provides an innovative method to reach some of our customers.”
According to a UPS Pressroom report, the new service in The Villages in central Florida begins in early May. This will be under the Federal Aviation Administration’s Part 107 rules.
UPS has been delivering medical supplies via drones to hospital patients at Wake Forest University's main hospital. They also deliver to WakeMed, in Raleigh, North Carolina, for about a year.
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