Covid-19: Google will display vaccination locations on its applications

Tech giants want to take action against the coronavirus.

A few days after Amazon, Google announced on Monday that it wanted to support the action of the public authorities in the United States as part of the gigantic vaccination campaign underway.

In a blog post titled "

How We're Helping Get More People Vaccines

," Company CEO Sundar Pichai explains that "

Getting people to people with vaccines is a tough problem to solve

": his troops therefore pledge "

to take [their] part

" in this fight.

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Concretely, Google wants to get involved in three complementary ways.

The first concerns information on vaccination.

$ 150 million will thus make it possible to "

broadcast essential public health announcements

".

In detail, $ 100 million will be awarded "

in advertising grants for the CDC Foundation, the World Health Organization and nonprofits around the world

."

To this will be added an additional $ 50 million, invested "

in partnership with public health agencies to reach uninformed communities with vaccine content and information

."

The objective is clear: to help public institutions disseminate information on vaccination, because populations have access to it "

unevenly

": people of color and those from rural areas "

do not have access to the vaccine. at the same rates as the other groups,

”regrets the businessman.

Information being the sinews of war, Google will also "

begin to display information on the distribution [of vaccines] by states and regions

" in the results of its search engine, so that everyone can see "

when it is will be eligible for the vaccine

”, depending on his place of residence.

In addition, an initiative called “

Get the facts

” will be launched on Google and YouTube in order to “

disseminate authoritative information on vaccines to the public

”.

Read also: Vaccines: few serious side effects

In the same vein, Google will make visible on its flagship search engine and its Maps application "

the places of vaccination against the Covid-19

", in the weeks to come.

This initiative will initially start with a few American states, including Arizona and Texas, but will then be extended to other countries, writes Sundar Pichai.

"

We will include details: if an appointment or a recommendation is necessary, if access is limited to specific groups or if there is a vaccination service in his car,

" says the leader.

His group works in concert with several partners such as "

government agencies and pharmacies

" to find out where the vaccination sites are and make them visible on its media.

A way to meet the strong demand from individuals in this area: "

research [Internet users] on" vaccines near me "have increased fivefold since the beginning of the year,

" reports the CEO.

The Google search engine will allow Internet users to see where they can be vaccinated.

Screenshot of blog post

Future vaccination centers at Google

Following the example of Amazon, which hosted its first ephemeral vaccination center in its Seattle premises this Sunday, Google wants to "

make available

" its facilities to the public authorities, including its "

green spaces, parking lots and buildings

", in order to to host centers there.

These sites will not be restricted to employees of the firm alone, but will accommodate all those eligible for the vaccine, according to the criteria defined by the authorities.

This initiative, which "

will begin in the United States

", will start in Los Angeles, New York, Kirkland as well as San Francisco, and Google hopes to be able to continue it "

on a national scale

" thereafter.

The group is discussing with local authorities to determine when these centers can open, "

depending on the local availability of vaccines

."

For its part, Amazon hoped to be able to vaccinate 2,000 people in its first space.

The initiative was announced alongside Washington State Governor Jay Inslee.