Drone Startup Wingcopter Speeds Up Race for Vaccine Delivery
German startup Wingcopter is delivering medication and COVID-19 vaccines to the farthest corners of the world.
More than 2 billion people in the world lack access to adequate healthcare. The pandemic only compounded this problem.
Founded by Tom Plümmer, Jonathan Hesselbarth and Ansgar Kadura in 2017, Wingcopter is a startup that uses cutting-edge drone technology to address this immediate need. The company both manufactures drone technology and provides drone deployment services to deliver food, parcels and medical supplies.
Using drone technology for a more equitable COVID-19 vaccine distribution
While for many countries the approval of COVID-19 vaccines at the end of 2020 signaled great hope, for a lot of countries of the global South, the news raised additional concerns. Poor infrastructure for proper vaccine storage consequentially meant the lack of vaccines in certain parts of Africa and South-East Asia.
Wingcopter recognized the opportunity to use their technology to deliver the vaccines to the farthest corners of the world in an efficient manner, minimizing human contact. One Wingcopter drone can transport more than 2,500 vaccine doses per day, and the company is now seeking partners to develop a drone that can carry around 1,000 doses per flight.
Wingcopter’s latest generation, the Wingcopter 198, released on April 27, is capable of making three separate deliveries per flight, travels faster and longer and can carry heavier loads.
Learning from previous successes
Wingcopter has a long history of using technology to enhance access to adequate medical treatments even before the 2020 pandemic. The company’s portfolio already included providing medical supplies to Malawi in East Africa and even delivering vaccines to eighteen remote villages on the Pacific island state of Vanuatu in 2019, cutting delivery times from up to 7 hours to a maximum of 30 minutes.
Wingcopter is one of many companies whose mission and work took on a whole different meaning during the pandemic. The company managed to act fast and recognized the opportunity to use their advanced technology to aid the global efforts to end the pandemic.
Find out more about the company at https://wingcopter.com/
Article by Bruno Stojcic
WINGCOPTER 198 - the world's first triple-drop delivery drone
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