Amazon will host a pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinic at its headquarters in Seattle

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A dog walker uses the park near The Spheres at Amazon’s headquarters campus. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser)

Amazon is using its headquarters in Seattle as a COVID-19 vaccination site.

The tech giant is partnering with Virginia Mason for a one-day pop-up clinic on Sunday Jan. 24 that aims to vaccinate 2,000 people at the company’s Amazon Meeting Center near downtown Seattle. Virginia Mason is handling vaccine administration, while Amazon is providing the location and help with logistics.

Amazon sends letter to President Biden, says it is ‘ready to assist’ with U.S. vaccination efforts

Those interested and eligible for a vaccine can sign-up on the waitlist here. People can use the state’s Phase Finder online tool to check eligibility. The state is currently in its Phase 1B tier of vaccine distribution, which includes anyone 65 and older and people 50 and older who live in a multigenerational household.

“We are committed to help,” Amazon PR chief Jay Carney said at a news conference Thursday. “Washington is our home state.”

The announcement comes one day after Amazon sent a letter to President Joe Biden, offering to help with the country’s vaccination efforts by turning its facilities into COVID-19 vaccination sites. Amazon is also offering other resources to the U.S. government such as its expertise in operations and information technology.

The company is hoping to get its essential workers vaccinated as soon as possible. A majority of the more than 800,000 U.S.-based Amazon employees do not work from home. Carney said there are 20,000 employees in Washington state working at fulfillment centers.

Amazon has an agreement with a licensed third-party occupational healthcare provider to administer COVID-19 vaccines at its facilities.

“We can get a lot of vaccinations done very quickly,” Carney said.

Conditions for Amazon warehouse workers have been the subject of scrutiny and criticism from employee activists and politicians. Amazon has implemented safety measures in warehouses and fulfillment centers to help manage COVID-19 cases, and is conducting thousands of tests per day. Carney said the company has done more than 1 million tests to date.

Amazon has boomed during the pandemic as millions turn to its e-commerce and cloud computing services over the past year. Amazon set revenue records for the third quarter 2020 and it is expected to report its first $100 billion quarter for the holiday period. Its stock price is up 70% over the past year.

Fellow Seattle-area tech giant Microsoft is also turning its mostly-vacant campus into a vaccination site, the company announced earlier this week. Microsoft is providing the state with technology expertise and support as part of the new Washington State Vaccine Command and Coordination Center. The state has a goal of vaccinating 45,000 per day; it is currently at about 16,000 per day.

Source: https://www.geekwire.com/2021/amazon-will-host-pop-covid-19-vaccination-clinic-headquarters-seattle/