Amazon offers Biden help with Covid-19 vaccine distribution

Amazon has extended an offer to President Joe Biden to assist with the national distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, a move that could expedite the federal effort to combat the pandemic.

Dave Clark, the CEO of Amazon's consumer business, and one of the company's highest-ranking executives, sent a letter to the president shortly after the inauguration Wednesday.

"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," he wrote in his letter, a copy of which was obtained by NBC News.

"We are prepared to leverage our operations, IT, & communications capabilities and expertise to assist your administration’s vaccination efforts," Clark wrote. "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."

He said the company had agreements in place with licensed third-party health care providers to administer vaccines on-site at Amazon facilities.

"We are prepared to move quickly once vaccines are available," he wrote.

Amazon representative Jodi Seth said the company had been “in touch” last month with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Trump administration's Department of Health and Human Services. But she gave no indication that Amazon had extended a similar offer directly to President Donald Trump.

Clark had also asked the CDC last month that employees working at Amazon fulfillment centers, Amazon Web Services data centers and Whole Foods Market stores "who cannot work from home" receive the vaccine "at the earliest appropriate time." He made the same request that Amazon's workers be vaccinated to the Biden administration.

Dylan Byers is a senior media reporter for NBC News based in Los Angeles.