Google will let you ask pharmacies about COVID-19 vaccines via Search and Maps
Safeway and other Albertsons Companies pharmacies can provide info through messages.
Starting today, Google is offering users another way to find out information about COVID-19 vaccines. You can contact a local Albertsons Companies pharmacy directly from Google Search and Maps.
Albertsons owns several pharmacies across the US, including Safeway, Jewel-Osco, Vons, Albertsons, Acme, Shaw’s and Tom Thumb. Hit the message button on Search and Maps and you can ask your local outlet about vaccine eligibility, availability and appointments. Using Business Messages, through which companies can use chatbots to respond to queries, pharmacies can also answer frequently asked questions.
“With Google’s Business Messages, we can quickly and accurately inform people of where, when and how they can get the vaccine," Omer Gajial, Albertsons senior vice president of pharmacy and health, said in a statement. "For our patients, this means getting them information quickly. For Albertsons Companies, it means freeing up our pharmacies to focus on what’s most important — administering the vaccine and taking care of our patients.”
Harnessing tools like Business Messages is a positive move to help people find out more accurate information about vaccines. Facebook announced this week it will help users book COVID-19 vaccine appointments.
