MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Google has announced a few steps it’s taking to help ramp up the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
One of the steps the company revealed Monday involves highlighting official information in its search results and on Google Maps about when and where people can get vaccinated.
In the coming weeks, Google says COVID-19 vaccination locations will be available in Google Search and Maps, starting with Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. More states and countries will follow.
Google says it will include details like whether an appointment or referral is required, if access is limited to specific groups, or if it has a drive thru.
Additionally, Google says it will make some of its facilities – like buildings, parking lots and open spaces – available for vaccination sites. They’ll be open to anyone eligible for the vaccine based on state and local guidelines. The first of these sites will be in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Kirkland, Washington, and New York City.
Google is also donating money to the cause, providing more than $150 million to promote vaccine education and equitable distribution.
About $100 million of that money will come in the form of ad grants for the CDC Foundation, the World Health Organization, and other nonprofits. Google says the other $50 million will be invested in partnership with public health agencies to reach underserved communities with vaccine-related content and information.
To help address the problem of people of color and rural community not getting the same access to vaccines as others, Google has also committed $5 million in grants to organizations addressing racial and geographic disparities in COVID-19 vaccinations.