US President Joe Biden speaks during Joe Biden’s inauguration as the 46th President of the United States on the Western Front of the US Capitol in Washington, January 20, 2021.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Amazon offered on Wednesday to assist in the national effort to distribute the Covid-19 vaccine, according to a letter addressed to President Joe Biden, which was obtained by CNBC.
“As you begin your work to get the country out of the Covid-19 crisis, Amazon is on hand to help you achieve your goal of vaccinating 100 million Americans in the first 100 days of your administration,” Dave Clark, CEO of Amazon’s global consumer company, wrote in the letter, which was first reported by Reuters.
Clark said Amazon is ready to use its operations, information technology and communications capabilities and expertise to “support your administration’s vaccination efforts.” He added that Amazon has reached an agreement with a third-party health care provider to deliver vaccines on-site at the company’s warehouses.
The letter comes as Amazon has battled for its front-line workers for priority access to the Covid-19 vaccine. Last month, Clark wrote to a panel at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asking that the company’s frontline workers “receive the Covid-19 vaccine as early as possible.” Clark also stressed that Amazon’s frontline workers have played a vital role in helping consumers get necessary products delivered to their homes during the coronavirus pandemic.
Here’s the full letter Clark sent to Biden on Wednesday:
Dear President Biden,
Congratulations to you and Vice President Harris on your inauguration. As you begin your work of leading the country out of the Covid-19 crisis, Amazon is on hand to help you achieve your goal of vaccinating 100 million Americans in the first 100 days of your administration.
As the country’s second-largest employer, Amazon has more than 800,000 employees in the United States, most of whom are essential workers who cannot work from home. We are proud of the role our employees have played in helping customers stay safe and receive important products and services at home, which is critical for those with underlying medical conditions and those prone to complications from Covid-19 . The essential workers who work at Amazon fulfillment centers, AWS data centers, and Whole Foods Market stores across the country who cannot work from home should get the Covid-19 vaccine as early as possible. We will help them with that.
We have an agreement with a licensed third-party occupational health care provider to deliver vaccines on-site at our Amazon facilities. We are ready to act quickly as soon as vaccines become available. In addition, we are willing to use our operations, information technology and communication capabilities and expertise to support your administration’s vaccination efforts. Our scale allows us to immediately make a meaningful impact in the fight against Covid-19, and we are here to help.
Since the beginning of this crisis, we have worked hard to protect our employees. We are committed to supporting your administration’s vaccination efforts. We work together to protect our employees and continue to provide essential services during the pandemic.
Sincerely,
Dave Clark
CEO, global consumer