SEATTLE — Gov. Jay Inslee announced that Amazon will partner with Virginia Mason to open a pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinic this Sunday in Seattle.
During a Thursday news conference, Inslee said the goal is for the clinic to administer 2,000 vaccine doses to those who are eligible.
The clinic will be from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 2031 7th Avenue in Downtown Seattle.
Parking is free and those interested must sign up in advance on the Virginia Mason website, no walk-ins.
The vaccine is now available for people in groups Phase 1A and Phase 1B Tier 1.
To find out whether you qualify, the Department of Health has set up a website called Phase Finder.
Inslee says that Microsoft has also offered to do mass vaccination clinics on its campus in Redmond.
The announcement came after Amazon’s offer to help the Biden administration to harness everything it uses in the blinding speed of e-commerce to Biden’s administration to distribute millions of vaccine doses, free of charge.
“Partnering with Amazon, I think is brilliant, said Professor Dan Bustillos, who teaches health law policy at the University of Washington Bothell. Bustillos said when it comes to our government getting people vaccinated with maximum efficiency, harnessing the incredible technical power of Amazon could give the whole process an enormous boost.
Bustillos said this clinic could be the first small step toward helping the federal government make giant leaps.
In the letter written by Amazon executives to President Biden:
“Amazon stands ready to assist you in reaching your goal of vaccinating 100 million Americans in the first 100 days of your administration.”
The letter offers the full range of Amazon’s business model to make vaccine distribution faster and more efficient.
“We are prepared to leverage our operations, information technology, communications capabilities and expertise to assist your administration’s vaccination efforts.”
Bustillos said the Amazon brand could instill confidence in people persuaded by misinformation about the vaccine’s safety.
“Having the sort of branding of Amazon behind you in this effort I think will do a lot to dispel some of those myths and to take the plunge and get vaccinated when it’s available to them,” he said.