Google Pledges to Provide 250,000 COVID-19 Vaccine Doses to ‘Countries in Need’

Google on Thursday went international with tools designed to help people find COVID-19 vaccination locations, as the US internet titan ramps up efforts to fight the pandemic. It also pledged to provide vaccine doses to "countries in need."

The Internet titan also plans to launch a cloud-based "virtual agent" that people can use to schedule vaccination appointments or get information on the topic in some 28 languages using chat, text messages, or phone calls.

Google said it will provide 250,000 vaccine doses to "countries in need" along with adding the ability for people to find sites for the jab in Canada, Chile, France, India, Singapore, and the US.

"As we've learned throughout the pandemic, no one is safe from COVID-19 until everyone is safe," Google said.

"Getting vaccines to everyone around the world is a challenging, but necessary, undertaking."

Google is among an array of tech companies including Amazon and Uber that have stepped up with resources or efforts to help get people vaccinated against COVID-19.

Along with providing a total of 250,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses to "countries in need," Google is funding pop-up sites for the jab in the US and committing an additional $250 million (roughly Rs. 1,870 crores) in ad credit to spreading vaccine information.

"There's a lot of work ahead to make sure everyone who wants to get vaccinated can," Google said in a blog post.

"Globally, it could be years before some countries even have enough vaccines."

Why did LG give up on its smartphone business? We discussed this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Later (starting at 22:00), we talk about the new co-op RPG shooter Outriders. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.