Skip to Main Content

Amazon has reached out to President Joe Biden to offer logistical and technical support for his goal of vaccinating 100 million Americans within his first 100 days in office.

In a letter sent Wednesday to Biden and shared with STAT, Dave Clark, chief executive of Amazon Worldwide Consumer, said the company is “prepared to leverage our operations, information technology, and communications capabilities and expertise to assist your administration’s vaccination efforts.”

advertisement

Beyond the broader vaccination effort, Clark also noted that many of Amazon’s 800,000 U.S. employees are essential workers employed at fulfillment centers, Amazon Web Services data centers, and Whole Foods stores, which are also part of Amazon. Clark said those employees “should receive the Covid-19 vaccine at the earliest appropriate time” and added that the company already has an agreement in place with a health care provider that can administer vaccines onsite at its facilities.

“We are prepared to move quickly once vaccines are available,” he said.

The shipping behemoth has taken a wide-ranging approach to address the pandemic since March, from sharing its staff’s web and research design expertise with scientists across the country to using its vast wealth to fundCovid-19 research efforts. So far, much of the company’s work has focused on protecting people at a high risk of being exposed to the virus, such as delivery drivers, grocery store staff, and health care workers — all roles that exist within Amazon and its subsidiaries. As of September, more than 19,000 U.S. Amazon workers at Amazon had contracted Covid-19, according to Reuters.

advertisement

Here’s the full letter.

  • So is Biden transferring responsibility to the Federal government for the rollout and distribution? Previous comments seem to imply feds could micro manage rollout in 50 states and the territories.

  • Amazon’s timing is… well, transparently and utterly political.

    Bezos hates Trump so much that he wouldn’t offer his megacorp’s help to the nation until Biden could get the credit. “Also, vaccinate our workers first, Mr. New President.”

    Just gross, how politics has twisted the Covid fight like it’s a dirty washrag.

Comments are closed.