Amazon to open pop-up COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Seattle headquarters

(Reuters) – Amazon Inc said on Thursday it will open a pop-up clinic in its Seattle headquarters on Jan. 24 with an aim to vaccinate 2,000 eligible members of the public against COVID-19 on the first day.

Amazon Senior Vice President of Global Corporate Affairs Jay Carney, who announced the plan in a news conference with Washington Governor Jay Inslee, said a company executive will be working 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 with the United States’ efforts involving the COVID-19 vaccine, citing a letter addressed to President Joe Biden.

The State currently allows people aged 65 and older and people 50 and older living in a multi-generational household to get vaccinated. It has yet to grant doses for the vaccination of warehouse employees, such as Amazon’s.

The company employs more than 800,000 people in the country and more than 19,000 U.S. workers at Amazon had contracted the virus as of September, underscoring the vaccine’s importance in keeping its staff safe and warehouses operational.

(Reporting by Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)