STARBUCKS

Washington State Taps Starbucks for Help With COVID Vaccine Rollout

The coffee giant has committed a team to work full time on expediting its home state's vaccine distribution

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee listens to a question during a news conference Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, at the Capitol in Olympia, Washington.
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren

Aiming to boost the slow pace of administering COVID-19 vaccinations, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said Monday that the state has turned to Starbucks for help streamlining logistics and setting a new goal to dole out 45,000 doses a day, NBC News reports.

Starbucks has assigned 11 employees with expertise in labor and deployment, operations, and research and development to work full time on vaccine distribution in its home state, the company said, adding that the number of employees could change.

Inslee said the state is also arranging for over 2,000 pharmacies to administer vaccinations and setting up drive-by vaccination sites. Microsoft, another Seattle area-based corporation, will also set up a site to perform 5,000 vaccinations a day, he said.

"This is a unique challenge for the United States and in every state to stand up a total mobilization of our resources," Inslee said. "We did that in World War II when we built the Liberty ships here in Washington state. We reached production levels that no one could imagine because we set ambitious goals."

Read the full story on NBCNews.com

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