Google to open COVID-19 vaccination sites, help users find out where they can get a shot

Brett Molina, USA TODAY
·1 min read

Google said it will open up select facilities for use as vaccination sites and bolster search results to provide better information on where to find a vaccine for COVID-19.

In a blog post Monday, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and parent company Alphabet, said the company will partner with a medical provider and public health authorities to open up sites in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City and Kirkland, Washington, near Seattle.

The company plans to expand the initiative nationally.

Google also will expand information panels within search results to show local vaccine distribution information, as well as a "Get the Facts" project to provide "authoritative information" about the vaccines. Pichai says searches for “vaccines near me” have increased by five times since the start of the year.

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"Getting vaccines to billions of people won’t be easy, but it’s one of the most important problems we’ll solve in our lifetimes," said Pichai in his post. "Google will continue to support in whatever way we can."

Google said it will donate $150 million to help with vaccine education and reaching underserved communities.

The move by the tech giant follows Amazon extending an offer to the Biden administration to pitch in with vaccine distribution. The e-commerce giant said it is prepared to leverage its operations to help vaccinate 100 million Americans in the first 100 days of the president's administration.

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Google will offer COVID vaccination sites, boosted search results