Google makes its premises available for vaccinations

U.S. giant Google said Monday it will convert some of its U.S. facilities into coronavirus vaccination centers. 

"To contribute to the vaccination campaign, starting in the United States, we will make available a selection of Google facilities such as buildings, parking lots and open spaces," Google boss Sundar Pichai wrote in a blog post. 

"These sites will be open to all those who are eligible for the vaccine according to state and local criteria," he added. 

The first sites will be based in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area in California (western U.S.), Kirkland, Washington (western U.S.) and New York City (eastern U.S.), but Google plans to open more. 

The group has partnered with healthcare specialist One Medical and U.S. public health agencies to implement this initiative.

Pichai also announced that Google will award $100 million in advertising grants to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Foundation, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other global organizations, as well as $50 million to help public health agencies educate disadvantaged communities about immunization.

Another U.S. technology pillar, Amazon, last week offered its assistance to new U.S. President Joe Biden in achieving the goal of vaccinating 100 million Americans in the first 100 days of his term.