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Starting Jan. 24, Amazon is using one of its Seattle office buildings as a temporary COVID-19 vaccination site.
The company’s meeting center, which is near the two-sphere buildings seen below at Seattle’s corporate headquarters, is expected to see a high volume of people coming to receive the coronavirus vaccine.
“We’re eager to help save lives here in our home state, to rebuild the economy with you, and to turn the page on COVID as quickly as we can,” saidJay Carney, Amazon’s senior vice president for Global Corporate Affairs, in a joint press conference with Washington state’s Governor Jay Inslee on Jan. 21.
Amazon has assigned an executive to work with the state’s vaccination team. Virginia Mason Franciscan Health is distributing the actual shots, and 2,000 people were expected to be vaccinated on the first day of the pop-up clinic.
Virginia Mason tweeted a note of thanks after the first pop-up vaccine day, writing, “Very appreciative of our partner, @Amazon, & volunteers for working together today to provide 2,000 people with their 1st dose of #COVID19 #vaccine. It takes a village.”
Very appreciative of our partner, @Amazon, & volunteers for working together today to provide 2,000 people with their 1st dose of #COVID19 #vaccine. It takes a village. #Pandemic #Coronavirus #Immunization #Seattle #PugetSound #PublicHealth #MaskUp #PhysicallyDistance #WashHands pic.twitter.com/MXjIyqUVgi
— Virginia Mason (@VirginiaMason) January 25, 2021
There was a long line waiting outside Amazon’s meeting center to receive vaccines, but the process went smoothly once inside, accordingto GeekWire.
In Washington state, anyone 65 or older and people who are 50 years or older in multigenerational households are eligible to receive the vaccine.
Amazon also hopes to get many of its workers vaccinated as soon as possible.
“Because we have big employee bases in these fulfillment centers, we can get a lot of vaccinations done very quickly,” Carney said.
Fellow corporate giant Microsoft is also transforming its Redmond campus into a mass vaccination site that could see up to 5,000 people daily. With many tech employees still working from home, both Amazon and Microsoft can afford to offer up their office spaces.
Starbucks and Costco are also providing support to the state’s vaccine efforts.
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