A first: baby gets vaccination by drone
A baby in the Vanuatu Islands in Oceania may call itself the first person on earth to receive a vaccination that was delivered by a commercial drone. This is what the children’s organization UNICEF reports.
The unmanned aircraft took 25 minutes on the flight of forty kilometres to reach a remote spot at Cook’s Bay on the island of Erromango. The trip would normally have taken hours by boat or on foot.
A nurse picked up the medication to vaccinate the baby who is only one month old, twelve other children and five pregnant women against polio and TB.
UNICEF hopes that drones can also save lives in other remote areas. “That would be a big step for world health”, according to the organization.
The government of Vanuatu is the first to sign a contract with a commercial drone company for the supply of vaccines.
