Microsoft prepares to make its Washington campus a COVID-19 vaccination site – CNET [CNET]

Microsoft committed last month to turning a building on its Washington campus into a COVID-19 vaccination site, and on Wednesday it offered more details of its plan. With many of its employees working from home due to the pandemic, some of the company’s buildings are temporarily vacant.

“This is not going to be a site for Microsoft employees, this is going to be a site for people in the community,” company president Brad Smith said in a Jan. 18 livestreamed conference with Gov. Jay Inslee.

Local clinics are relocating their vaccination operations to the conference center on the tech company’s Redmond campus “to help reduce the burden on local health care facilities,” Microsoft executive vice president Kurt DelBene said in a Wednesday blog post. It’s covering the costs of this vaccination site.

The software giant is one of several companies partnering with the state health department. It’ll also provide tech expertise and support to the vaccination teams, while coffee giant Starbucks will offer its expertise in operational efficiency, health care company Kaiser Permanente will help with planning, and retailer Costco will aid in vaccine delivery.

The state, which has a population of around 7.6 million, hopes to vaccinate 45,000 people each day through this system.

“We are removing as many impediments as possible to Washingtonians getting vaccinated, we are going to deliver every dose that comes into our state,” Inslee said in the press conference.

See also: COVID-19 vaccine: How to track doses distributed in your state