Page 134 - FDCC Pandemic Book

Living in a Pandemic: A Collection of Stories on Coping, Resilience & Hope
real-time analysis and a torrent of communications from FedEx headquarters to thousands of FedEx locations throughout the country. The legal department was involved in all of it, working closely with the dedicated safety and human resource teams to keep track of any developments, and put in place ad hoc systems and procedures to ensure compliance. To paraphrase the joke that many an associate has made leading up to trial, we were only working half days – 12 hours (or more), but the exhilaration of meeting the challenge head on, protecting the company, and serving the customers during unprecedented circumstances made the days and weeks fly by.
Following the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of Emergency Use Authorization for the first publicly available vaccines, FedEx Express began transport of the vaccines. After months of preparation and close planning with providers, distribution companies, healthcare companies, and federal and state officials, the first COVID-19 vaccines were prepared for movement to dosing centers in the U.S. FedEx worked closely with healthcare customers to prepare for additional vaccine shipments and transportation of critical vaccine-related supplies.
On December 14, 2020, at 5:53 a.m. EST, FedEx Express courier Christine Arigo delivered the first COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S. to Boston Medical Center in Massachusetts. FedEx continues to ship vaccines and critical medical supplies throughout the U.S. and Canada and is prepared to ship vaccines to more than 220 countries and territories for as long as necessary to help eradicate COVID-19. This operation is one of the top priorities for the FedEx enterprise.
That first delivery was preceded by months of rigorous planning across many teams, as well as the development of solutions and technologies built to handle the mass movement of vaccines through the network. FedEx’s proprietary technology uses a lightweight, compact sensor to track vaccine shipments hundreds of times while inside the FedEx Express network. From there, FedEx systems bring together this near-real-time data and give the FedEx team the ability to spring into action and reroute if a disruption — like a snowstorm — occurs. FedEx’s dedicated teams and technological advancements have positioned FedEx to step up to meet this moment.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic continues to plague the U.S. and the world, there is hope on the horizon as established vaccines continue to be distributed – 56 million in the U.S. as of this writing in late February 2021. New vaccines continue to be developed. FedEx has proven that its people and network are up to the challenges of transporting vaccines, keeping critical supply chains operating, meeting the increased demands for residential delivery, and delivering thousands of humanitarian aid shipments around the globe. This is who we are, and what we do.
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