(Reuters) – Amazon Inc said on Thursday that it will open an instant clinic at its Seattle headquarters on January 24 with the aim of vaccinating 2,000 eligible members of the public against COVID-19 on the first day.
Amazon’s senior vice president of global corporate affairs, Jay Carney, who announced the plan at a news conference with Washington Governor Jay Inslee, said a company executive will work with Washington State’s Vaccine Command Center.
The clinic will be hosted in partnership with Virginia Mason Franciscan Health.
The move came a day after Reuters reported that Amazon had offered to help in the United States’ efforts involving the COVID-19 vaccine, citing a letter addressed to President Joe Biden.
Currently, the state allows people aged 65 and over and people aged 50 and over who live in a multi-generation home to be vaccinated. It has not yet granted vaccination doses to warehouse workers, such as Amazon.
The company employs more than 800,000 people in the country and more than 19,000 US workers on Amazon contracted the virus until September, emphasizing the importance of the vaccine to keep its staff safe and operational deposits.
Reporting by Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur