Education
At some of its locations, Google plans vaccination clinics
In order to promote education and fair distribution of coronavirus vaccines, Google is launching an initiative to provide more than $150 million, the company announced today. It will make certain Google facilities available as vaccination clinics, with plans to open sites first in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Kirkland, Washington, and New York City, and expand nationally as vaccines become more widely available.
In a blog post, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said the company would give the CDC Foundation, the World Health Organization, and other non-profits $100 million in ad grants.
It also plans to invest $50 million in partnerships with public health agencies to help underserved communities receive information about vaccines.
In the post, Pichai writes, Our efforts will focus heavily on equitable access to vaccines. Early data in the United States shows that populations that are disproportionately affected, particularly people of color and those in rural communities, do not have access to the vaccine at the same rates as other groups.
Google has already committed $5 million in grants to organizations like the Satcher Health Leadership Institute of the Morehouse School of Medicine, which focuses on addressing racial and geographic disparities in access to vaccines.
In its search results, Google will also expand the vaccine information panels and will begin to display state and regional search distribution information so that people can check when they are eligible to receive a vaccine. In last month's search in the UK, Google launched the vaccine information panels, listing information on each individual vaccine. They are similar to the information panels used to share COVID-19 facts and the testing center locations.
The company says that since the beginning of the year, the search for "vaccines near me" has increased fivefold.
COVID-19 vaccination sites will be available in search in the coming weeks, and maps for Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas will be added soon, as well as more states and countries. The search results will include information on whether a doctor's appointments or referrals are needed, whether there is a drive-thru option or whether access is limited to specific individuals.
Google says it is working to gather data on vaccination sites with VaccineFinder.org, government agencies, retail pharmacies, and other authoritative sources.
In the United States, the initial rollout of coronavirus vaccines was slow and messy, as states tried to coordinate appointment plans with little federal guidance.
It won't be easy to get vaccines for billions of people, but it's one of the most important issues we'll be solving in our lives, Pichai writes in the post.
