(Reuters) – Amazon Inc said Thursday it will open a pop-up clinic at its Seattle headquarters on Jan. 24 with the goal of vaccinating 2,000 eligible members of the public against COVID-19 on day one.
Amazon Senior Vice President of Global Corporate Affairs Jay Carney, who announced the plan in a press conference with Washington Governor Jay Inslee, said a company executive will work with Washington State’s Vaccine Command Center.
The clinic is organized in partnership with Virginia Mason Franciscan Health.
The move came a day after Reuters reported that Amazon had offered to assist in the United States’ efforts regarding the COVID-19 vaccine, citing a letter addressed to President Joe Biden.
The state currently allows people 65 and older and people 50 and older living in multi-generational households to get vaccinated. It has yet to award doses for the vaccination of warehouse workers, such as Amazon’s.
The company employs more than 800,000 people in the country and more than 19,000 American employees at Amazon had contracted the virus since September, underscoring the importance of the vaccine in keeping its workforce safe and its warehouses operational.
Reporting by Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur