Google is launching an initiative to provide more than $ 150 million to promote education and equitable distribution of coronavirus vaccines, the company announced today. It will make some Google facilities available – buildings, parking lots and open spaces – such as vaccination clinics, with plans to open locations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Kirkland, Washington and New York City first, and expand nationwide as vaccines become more widely available.
Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said in a blog post that the company would donate $ 100 million in advertising donations to the CDC Foundation, the World Health Organization and other nonprofits. It also plans to invest $ 50 million in partnerships with public health agencies to help obtain vaccine information for underserved communities.
“Our efforts will focus heavily on equitable access to vaccines,” writes Pichai in the post. “Early data in the United States shows that disproportionately affected populations, especially people of color and those in rural communities, are not having access to the vaccine at the same rates as other groups.”
Google had already committed $ 5 million in donations to organizations like the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine, which focuses on addressing racial and geographical disparities in access to vaccines.
Google will also expand vaccine information panels in its search results and begin showing information for state and regional distribution in the search so people can check when they are eligible to receive a vaccine. Google launched research vaccine information panels last month in the UK, listing information about each individual vaccine. They are similar to the information panels used to share facts about COVID-19 and test center locations.
The company says that searches for “vaccines near me” have increased fivefold since the beginning of the year. In the coming weeks, COVID-19 vaccination sites will be available in search and on Maps for Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, and more states and countries will be added soon. The search results will include details on whether a doctor’s consultation or referrals are necessary, whether there is a drive-thru option or whether access is limited to specific people. Google says it is working with VaccineFinder.org, government agencies, retail pharmacies and other official sources to collect data on vaccination sites.
The initial distribution of coronavirus vaccines in the United States has been slow and confusing as states have tried to coordinate plans for consultations with little federal guidance.
“Getting vaccines to billions of people will not be easy, but it is one of the most important problems that we will solve in our lives,” writes Pichai in the post.