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Amazon offers to help President Biden speed up the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, prompting questions about whether the offer has already been made to the Trump administration.
Amazon chief executive Dave Clark pitched the idea to Biden upon taking office in a letter Wednesday that also congratulated him on his inauguration.
“We are ready to leverage our operational, IT and communications capabilities and expertise to aid your jurisdiction’s immunization efforts. Our scale allows us to make a significant impact immediately, ”Clark wrote.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a briefing Thursday afternoon that “we have had a lot of contact, some in private, some in public, from various companies and private sector entities. And we certainly welcome that. And we’ll look at all of these offers. “
A reporter pressed Psaki on the timing of Amazon’s offer, asking if the tech giant had waited for Trump to leave as a “political call … with lives on the line.
“I’m not aware of the timeline of when Amazon contacted. It seems like a question for Amazon to me, ”Psaki said.
Biden has made vaccine distribution one of his top priorities, promising to distribute 100 million doses of the vaccine in his first 100 days. The rate would slightly exceed Trump’s last week’s rate of 912,497 doses given per day.
Trump has regularly attacked Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who also owns the Washington Post, and called on the U.S. Postal Service to charge Amazon more for delivering packages.
Clark, the Amazon executive who pitched the idea to Biden, was responsible for a December letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which sought help accessing the vaccine for workers at the ‘company.
Clark wrote to Biden that help from Amazon could be a game-changer.
“Our scale allows us to have a significant impact immediately in the fight against COVID-19, and we are ready to assist you in that effort,” Clark wrote.
“Since the start of this crisis, we have worked hard to keep our workers safe. We are committed to supporting your administration’s vaccination efforts as we work together to protect our employees and continue to provide essential services during the pandemic. “
The e-commerce and cloud computing giant has one of the most sophisticated distribution and shipping operations in the country.
Bezos bought the Washington Post in 2013 for $ 250 million. The newspaper had a strained relationship with Trump, who called the newspaper “a costly lobbyist for Amazon.”
Trump’s Justice Department has polled Amazon on anti-trust concerns.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin defended the investigation by a CNBC 2019 appearance, arguing that Amazon “destroyed the retail industry in the United States”
In a Medium 2019 article, Bezos defended his ownership of the newspaper, writing, “My Washington Post ownership is complexifying for me. It is inevitable that some powerful people who experience the Washington Post media coverage will mistakenly conclude that I am their enemy.
He added: “My management of the Post and my support for its mission, which will remain steadfast, is something that I will be most proud of at 90 and to review my life, if I am lucky enough to live this long, what whatever the complexities it creates for me.
An Amazon representative did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comment on correspondence with the Trump administration and whether the company has offered Trump support for the vaccine distribution.
Contacted by NBC News, an Amazon representative said the company had been “in touch” with the CDC last month, but declined to say whether the company had made the same overtures to Trump.
In a tweet posted Thursday afternoon, Amazon’s public policy team defended its conduct, stating, “Actually, we didn’t wait.
“We have offered the Trump administration assistance on vaccines, built new tools for researchers and public health authorities, hired Operation Warp Speed on logistics and advised on testing, and flown in PPE from China when America needed it most.
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