Amazon is offering to help President Biden speed up the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, inviting questions about whether the offer was made to the Trump administration.
Amazon executive Dave Clark introduced the idea to Biden as soon as he took office in a letter on Wednesday that also congratulated him on his inauguration.
“We are prepared to leverage our operations, IT and communication skills and experience to assist your administration’s vaccination efforts. Our scale allows us to make a significant impact immediately, ”wrote Clark.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a briefing on Thursday afternoon that “we had a lot of outreach activities, some private, some publicly, from a number of companies and private sector entities. And we certainly welcome that. And we will be considering all these offers. “
A journalist pressured Psaki about the timing of Amazon’s offer, asking if the tech giant waited until Trump stepped down as “a political call … while lives were on the edge.
“I’m not aware of the timeline of when Amazon got in touch. That seems like a question for Amazon, ”said Psaki.
Biden made vaccine distribution one of his top priorities, promising to distribute 100 million doses of the vaccine in its first 100 days. The rate would slightly exceed the Trump rate in the final week of 912,497 doses given per day.
Trump routinely attacked Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who also owns the Washington Post, and asked the United States Post Office to charge more to Amazon for delivering packages.
Clark, the Amazon executive who launched Biden on the idea, was responsible for a December letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that sought help to gain access to the vaccine for company workers.
Clark wrote to Biden that Amazon’s help could be a game changer.
“Our scale allows us to make a significant impact immediately in the fight against COVID-19, and we are ready to assist you in that effort,” wrote Clark.
“Since the beginning of this crisis, we have been working hard to keep our workers safe. We are committed to assisting your administration’s vaccination efforts, while working together to protect our employees and continue to provide essential services during the pandemic. “
The e-commerce and cloud computing giant has one of the most sophisticated distribution and shipping operations in the country.
Bezos bought the Washington Post in 2013 for $ 250 million. The newspaper had a strained relationship with Trump, who called the newspaper “an expensive … Amazon lobbyist.”
Trump’s Justice Department investigated Amazon over antitrust issues.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin defended the investigation in an appearance on CNBC in 2019, arguing that Amazon “destroyed the retail industry in the United States”.
In a 2019 Medium post, Bezos defended his ownership of the newspaper, writing: “My Washington Post property is a complicating factor for me. It is inevitable that certain powerful people who experience Washington Post coverage will mistakenly conclude that I am their enemy. “
He added: “My administration of The Post and my support for your mission, which will remain unshakable, will be something I will be most proud of when I am 90 and review my life, if I am lucky enough to live that long, regardless of any complexities it creates for me. “
An Amazon representative did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comment on correspondence with the Trump administration and whether the company offered support to Trump in the distribution of vaccines.
Reached by NBC News, an Amazon representative said the company had been “in touch” last month with the CDC, but did not say whether the company had made the same openings for Trump.
In a tweet posted on Thursday afternoon, Amazon’s public policy team defended their conduct, saying, “Actually, we don’t wait.
“We offer assistance to the Trump administration with vaccines, build new tools for researchers and public health officials, involve Operation Warp Speed in logistics and advise on testing and fly in PPE from China when America needs it most.”