Google announces partnership with One Medical to open COVID-19 vaccine clinics
Google's Chief Health Officer says Google Maps will soon provide access for people to find a vaccination site near them.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (KGO) -- As COVID-19 vaccine distribution continues to be a struggle for California, tech giant Google is now stepping in to help.
Google is providing $150 million dollars for vaccine education and equitable access and partnering with a health care provider to open vaccination clinics.
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"We've seen a 5x increase in the information that people are looking for on COVID vaccinations, which is a signal to us that people were ready to get more information," said Dr. Karen DeSalvo M.D, Google's Chief Health Officer.
Dr. DeSalvo says Google Maps will soon provide access for people to find a vaccination site near them.
"We'll be making support to the World Health Organization. In the U.S. to the CDC foundation and to local community organizations because that's where trust is built in the front lines of neighborhood," said Dr. DeSalvo.
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Today the tech giant also pledged $150 million dollars towards vaccine education and equitable access. As part of their overall plan they are also opening vaccination clinics.
"We will provide the space, basically facilities. One medical will be providing the vaccinations in partnership with public health," explained Dr. DeSalvo.
Dr. Andrew Diamond, One Medical's chief medical officer says they've been in talks with Google since October to make vaccination sites happen.
One Medical has an annual membership fee of $199.
Dr. Diamond says they're getting the vaccine doses from counties.
Luz Pena: "This is kind of like a loophole. If you get the 30-day trial you can potentially get the COVID -19 vaccine through One Medical?"
Dr. Diamond: "Absolutely. That's the whole point. Our goal is to get people vaccinated as quickly as possible, and as many people as possible."
Dr. Diamond says the reason for the membership is to remind people of their second dose and provide 24/7 access to their virtual care.
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Under this partnership with Google, One Medical will offer free trial memberships.
"If you are not already a one medical member you can get a free membership at one medical that last 60 days. That's long enough to get your vaccination. The idea is that you can get an appointment, based on our appointment availability which is in term based on how much vaccine we have," said Dr. Diamond.
Dr. DeSalvo says they are open to work with other medical providers in the future.
"We have facilities in more than 30 states across the U.S. and we can make those available as local public health authorities think they can be useful," said Dr. DeSalvo.
For now Google will start with vaccination clinics in the Bay Area.
As for a timeline of when they will open these sites, "We are gearing up and ready to do that in the next few weeks," said Dr. DeSalvo.
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