In a letter sent to Biden Wednesday, Amazon (AMZN) executive Dave Clark wrote that the company is “ready to help” vaccinate 100 million Americans in the first 100 days, just as Biden has pledged to do.
As part of this offering, Clark noted that Amazon has more than 800,000 employees based in the United States, most of whom work in essential roles at Amazon compliance centers, AWS data centers, and Whole stores. Foods Market, and these workers “should receive the Covid- 19 vaccine at the appropriate first time.” He added that Amazon has an agreement with a third-party occupational health service provider authorized to administer vaccines at its facilities.
It’s not the first time Amazon has advocated for early access to the vaccine for its essential workers. In December, Clark wrote a letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccination practice advisory committee on access to the vaccine “at the right appropriate time.” Others filed similar applications, including Uber for its drivers, and the National Retail Federation, which advocated the retail industry.
The push comes as worker safety has become an area of intense exploration during the company’s pandemic, whose business has grown even when the wider economy has been seen plunged into a pandemic-induced recession. In October, Amazon said more than 19,000 of its top U.S. employees at Amazon and Whole Foods have tested positive or supposedly tested positive for coronavirus, shedding light for the first time on how their workforce is doing. has been affected by Covid-19 after months of internal and external pressure for more transparency.
In Clark’s letter, he suggested that the company can help the administration more broadly, although the details are unclear.
He wrote that Amazon is “ready to leverage our operations, information technology and communications capabilities and expertise to help your administration’s vaccination efforts. Our scale allows us to have a significant impact immediately on the fight against Covid.” -19 and we are ready to assist you in this endeavor. “
Amazon did not immediately respond to CNN Business’s request for more information.
