Amazon is turning its Seattle headquarters into a COVID-19 vaccination site. Beginning Sunday, Jan. 24, the so-called Doppler office building will host a pop-up clinic, open to all Washingtonians who qualify for immunization under the state's phased rollout.
Led by Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, the clinic aims to vaccinate 2,000 people in its first day. Residents are encouraged to join the waitlist to find out when they're eligible; the state currently allows individuals aged 65 or older and folks 50 years or older in multigenerational houses to receive the vaccine.
During a joint press conference with Gov. Jay Inslee, Amazon SVP of global corporate affairs Jay Carney announced that the company is "eager to help save lives here in our home state, to rebuild the economy with you, and to turn the page on COVID as quickly as we can."
The firm can also provide in-house vaccinations to the tens of thousands of Amazon workers doing front-line jobs throughout the state. "Because we have big employee bases in these fulfillment centers, we can get a lot of vaccinations done very quickly," Carney said.
Amazon last spring promised a $4 billion plan to buy personal protective equipment, pay for cleaning company facilities, raise wages, and fund in-house testing. Despite the conglomerate's attempts, nearly 20,000 US Amazon frontline workers (those in the warehouses and Whole Foods Market stores) caught the virus as of mid-September, prompting protests from those who said the employer failed to do enough to protect them.
Now Amazon wants access to COVID-19 vaccinations for essential employees. In return, it's willing to lend a hand with the nationwide rollout. Dave Clark, CEO of worldwide consumer business, on Wednesday sent a letter to President Biden requesting that folks at fulfillment centers, AWS data centers, and Whole Foods shops receive the jab "at the earliest appropriate time." Amazon has offered access to its "operations, information technology, and communications capabilities and expertise" to reinforce President Biden's goal of vaccinating 100 million Americans in the first 100 days of his administration.