Amazon plays games, political games. NOW they will help with Covid vaccine distribution. The company’s about face happened mere minutes after Joe Biden was sworn in.

“Amazon on Wednesday offered to help with the national effort to distribute the Covid-19 vaccine, according to a letter addressed to President Joe Biden, which was obtained by CNBC.

“As you begin your work leading the country out of the Covid-19 crisis, Amazon stands ready to assist you in reaching your goal of vaccinating 100 million Americans in the first 100 days of your administration,” Dave Clark, CEO of Amazon’s worldwide consumer business, wrote in the letter, which was first reported on by Reuters.”

The timing of this letter is…suspect and more than a bit infuriating. Most certainly the rollout of the vaccines has been clunky to say the least. We’ve pointed out the issues that New York and others are having. President Trump rightly left the distribution plans up to the states. But, of course, many states have gone into pretzel mode regarding who gets the vaccine and when. 

“Among the challenges of getting the US vaccinated is completing the “last mile” of distribution — getting the vaccines from distributors to patients. Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines need to be transported while frozen, with Pfizer’s requiring ultra-cold storage. Once they get to a facility, they need to be thawed and quickly distributed. Lately, distribution efforts in the US have been complicated by confusion over who’s eligible and fractured access to vaccine sign-ups and appointments.”

However, it isn’t the fault of the states for their ham-handed handling of the vaccine rollout. All states, with the exceptions of West Virginia, South Dakota, Florida, and a few others, are victims of President Trump’s grudge against Amazon don’t you know.

Now, magically, Amazon wants to fix things. President Trump is no longer in office, Biden is and suddenly Amazon want to HELP! How? With demands.

You see, they’ll assist Biden in getting to his 100 days 100 million vaccines…ONLY if all 800 thousand employees are vaccinated FIRST. 

“We have an agreement in place with a licensed third-party occupational health care provider to administer vaccines on-site at our Amazon facilities. We are prepared to move quickly once vaccines are available. Additionally, we are prepared to leverage our operations, information technology, and communications capabilities and expertise to assist your administration’s vaccination efforts. Our scale allows us to make a meaningful impact immediately in the fight against COVID-19, and we stand ready to assist you in this effort.”

Some may quibble over the language, but Amazon’s request that all their employees get vaccinated at the “earliest possible time” isn’t a request. Read between the lines. It’s a demand. If that condition isn’t met, what do you think will happen? Amazon will walk away. However, it’s a fair bet that Biden will bend over and agree to Amazon’s demands.

For those who are wondering, Amazon sent a similar letter to the CDC in December. Not to President Trump, but to the CDC. 

I have multiple problems with Amazon’s political games.

A. Amazon’s five years of antipathy towards President Trump as evidenced by the Washington Post’s continual shrill viciousness against any and all involved in the Trump Administration

B. This new strain of flu virus is very serious. People are researching and trying to make sense of it. What does Amazon do along with other Big Tech? Throttle information that is counter to THEIR chosen narrative

C. Lives are at stake, ESPECIALLY the elderly and those with co-morbidities, yet Amazon demands that it’s far healthier workforce is moved to the head of the line

Those who work for Amazon have been amazing these last ten months. They, along with so many others in the grocery stores, the trucking industry, healthcare, restaurants, food banks, and churches have stepped up in ways large and small. Amazon employees understandably have the same concerns about this virus as the rest of us do. 

So, Amazon’s political game playing on this is infuriating to say the least. Particularly in light of how they joined forces to disappear President Trump from Big Tech platforms and throttle Parler. 

Amazon’s about face yesterday given the events of the last few weeks and months raised more than a few eyebrows.

https://twitter.com/TheRightWingM/status/1351984059904368646

Everyone is ready to help save lives now that the right political ideology is in office. You wouldn’t want to help previously because the death rate helped frame the narrative against The previous occupant. https://t.co/wCmj2Saniw

— Michael O'Fallon – Sovereign Nations (@SovMichael) January 20, 2021

Yes indeed. Amazon’s political game playing is on point! Never mind about the lives Amazon could’ve been helping save starting in November when the vaccines became available, now that Papa Joe is in office, it’s time for action! 

Amazon is primed and ready to help get those vaccines to those who need it most…after all their employees are vaccinated of course. However, given Amazon’s tech reach, this is something to think about. 

This comment at Instapundit nails it. 

“Peter Porcupine • 4 hours ago • edited
“Thank you for ordering the CovidPRIME Home Vaccination Kit from us! We have charged your credit card $399.95. Unfortunately, based on your past purchase of a Donald Trump bumper sticker we have determined that you are low priority. We will let you know when kits become available for people like you.””

The timing of Amazon’s political game playing with the Covid vaccine needs to be questioned and called out. Amazon corporate has fiddled while people have died.

Feature Photo Credit: Amazon semi by Phillip Pessar via Flickr, cropped and modified