Amazon is offering to help President Biden speed up the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, asking questions about whether the offer was ever made to the Trump administration.
Amazon CEO Dave Clark conveyed the idea to Biden as soon as he took office in a letter Wednesday that also congratulated him on his inauguration.
‘We are prepared to leverage our operational, IT and communications capabilities and expertise to assist your administration’s vaccination efforts. “Our scale enables us to make a significant impact immediately,” Clark wrote.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a briefing Thursday afternoon that ‘we are reaching out a lot, some privately, some in public to a range of businesses and the private sector. And we definitely welcome it. And we will consider all these offers. ”
A journalist pressed Psaki about the timing of Amazon’s offer and asked if the technology giant had waited until Trump left office as a “political call … while lives hung in the balance.
‘I’m not aware of the timeline of when Amazon reached out. That sounds to me like a question for Amazon, ‘Psaki said.
Biden has made vaccine distribution one of its top priorities and promises to distribute 100 million vaccine doses in the first 100 days. The rate will slightly exceed Trump’s final week rate 912 497 doses given per day.
Trump frequently attacked Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who also owns the Washington Post, and called on the U.S. Postal Service to ask Amazon more to deliver packages.
Clark, the Amazon CEO who spoke to Biden on the idea, was responsible for a letter in December to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention seeking help gaining access to the vaccine for the company’s employees.
Clark wrote to Biden that Amazon’s help could be a game changer.
“Our scale enables us to immediately make a significant impact in the fight against COVID-19, and we are ready to assist you in this endeavor,” Clark wrote.
“Since the beginning of this crisis, we have worked hard to keep our workers safe. We are committed to assisting your administration’s vaccination efforts while working together to protect our employees and continue to provide essential services during the pandemic. ”
The giant for e-commerce and cloud computing 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 huge relationship with Trump, who called the newspaper “an expensive lobbyist for Amazon.”
Trump’s Justice Department has investigated Amazon for antitrust concerns.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin defends the investigation in A CNBC appearance in 2019, arguing that Amazon “destroyed the retail industry in the United States.”
In a 2019 medium-sized post, Bezos defends his ownership of the newspaper, writing: ‘My ownership of the Washington Post is more complicated for me. It is inevitable that certain powerful people who experience Washington Post news coverage will erroneously conclude that I am their enemy. ”
He added: ‘My stewardship of The Post and my support of the mission, which will remain steadfast, is something I will be most proud of when I’m 90 and will review my life, if I’m happy to live that long, regardless of the complexities it creates for me. ”
A Amazon representative did not immediately respond to a request from The Post for comment on correspondence with the Trump administration and whether the company offered Trump support with the distribution of vaccines.
NBC News told an Amazon representative that the company was “in touch” with the CDC last month, but declined to say whether the company made the same beliefs to Trump.
In a tweet posted Thursday afternoon, Amazon’s public policy team defended their behavior, saying, ‘Actually, we did not wait.
“We offered the Trump administration assistance with vaccines, built new tools for researchers and public health authorities, involved Operation Warp Speed on logistics and advised testing, and PPE flew out of China when America needed it most.”