Drones Are About to Have Their Moment

But not the way Jeff Bezos promised

By late last month, Florida’s daily Covid-19 case count had increased fivefold, causing officials to close beaches for the Fourth of July weekend and leading medical practitioners to advise the elderly to remain at home. For the state’s 4.9 million seniors (one in five residents), pharmacies are now getting creative in order to deliver prescription and over-the-counter essentials to the at-risk population.

Responding to this need in May, CVS pharmacy launched a prescription medication delivery service by aerial drone to a retirement community in Florida. The pharmacy giant’s delivery in The Villages (also the largest retirement community in the United States) was supported by UPS using Matternet M2 autonomous drones.

According to a May 12 company press release, the “technology enabled the first contactless delivery to fight COVID-19 with UPS, transporting items from CVS.” The delivery in Florida began under the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Part 107 rules, which provide authority to operate through the pandemic and explore ongoing needs.

Drone technology has been used in a variety of scenarios lately: to deliver Covid-19 tests in Ghana, to ensure children have enough library books for summer reading, and to enforce social distancing…