The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) leads the state’s efforts to detect and contain COVID-19. As rapid over-the-counter (OTC) COVID-19 tests became available at the beginning of 2021, Colorado Governor Jared Polis and CDPHE quickly incorporated the tests into the state’s pandemic response. After successfully working with Amazon to stand up a distribution program that targeted teachers and other school staff with the goal of maintaining in-person learning, they expanded the program to all Colorado residents.
CDPHE partnered with Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) to launch the state’s At-Home Testing Program. In collaboration with the MCF team, the state worked to have their vendor deliver over the counter (OTC) COVID-19 test kits directly to Amazon at Amazon’s Fulfillment Centers. AWS teams worked with the Office of Information Technology (OIT) to build a custom ordering platform that allows individuals to order test kits. All orders placed by Colorado residents were automatically routed to MCF. As orders were submitted, Amazon picked, packed, and shipped the test kits directly to residents statewide.
MCF worked with CDPHE to quickly stand up a fully integrated ordering and fulfillment operation. Once the state’s inventory was received at Amazon’s Fulfillment Centers and orders were placed, Colorado was able to begin shipping test kits statewide within hours.
Through the state’s partnership with MCF, CDPHE has been able to adapt and make changes to the direct-to-consumer distribution model, including adding additional products to accommodate different order types and new test brands.
CDPHE also took advantage of the scalability of MCF, and quickly inbounded and fulfilled enough test kits to meet spikes in demand during the Delta and Omicron surges. Because the partnership was in place, Colorado was able to respond quickly to the Omicron surge and using Amazon’s Fulfillment Center distributed over 400,000 tests during the peak in January 2022. MCF was an important tool to help the state’s testing and containment measures keep up with the spread of COVID-19. The State of Colorado Distributed more than 2.7 million test kits directly to Colorado residents’ homes through this partnership and program.
