Amazon India's COVID Blog: Updates on how we’re addressing the pandemic's second surge

June 22, 2021

It’s said that none of us is as strong as all of us, and never has this rung more true than during recent events. Thanks to governments, companies and citizens worldwide rallying around India to help the country overcome its harrowing second wave of COVID-19, daily cases dropped to under 60,000 this past weekend for the first time in nearly three months – down from a shocking 4 lakhs in late April and early May.

Here at Amazon India, we’ve had the privilege of witnessing this superhuman strength while working with NGOs, hospitals, local governments, communities and other partners in the fight. As one of the first responders to the crisis, our journey has given us a ringside view of the bravery, generosity and resilience that has buoyed the country through the wave. Now, as we hopefully move towards brighter times, we’d like to take a moment to recognize the contributions of all those who were involved in Amazon-facilitated efforts.
READ MORE

June 10

In live session on Instagram with Dr. Vin Gupta, Chief Medical Officer, Amazon interacted with people on the topic of vaccine awareness and hesitancy. In a 30 minute live session, he took live questions from the audience and busted myths on vaccinations and cleared common misconceptions.

June 9, 2021

After launching its first on-site vaccination event for frontline teams three weeks ago, Amazon India, today completed vaccinating over 100,000 people including frontline associates, employees, and their dependents. The on-site vaccination events are currently being hosted in 26 cities including key metros and cities such as Ludhiana, Ranchi and Raipur, in conjunction with licensed healthcare partners. The company will continue to expand these events to more cities and towns like Mysore, Surat and Indore to name a few, over the coming weeks. The on-site vaccination drive strengthens Amazon India’s commitment to make vaccination a ready choice for 10 lakh people including employee, partner and SMB sellers and their dependents.
READ MORE

May 31, 2021

Amazon Pay announced the launch of UmmeedKeChehre (Faces of Hope) – a digital-led campaign to salute the unseen and unsung heroes of this pandemic who continue to work tirelessly to help and support others. The campaign unfolds with a digital film that captures the extraordinary efforts and commitment of individuals and groups, including the frontline staff, lab technicians and lesser known heroes like drivers, watchmen and many more who are selflessly doing their best for the society and people. .
READ MORE

May 27, 2021

As a follow-up to the COVID-19 health insurance policy arranged for its marketplace sellers in 2020, Amazon.in today announced that it is arranging COVID-19 health insurance cover, completely free of cost for registered sellers in on the Amazon.in marketplace, through Acko General Insurance Limited (Acko). Amazon.in will fully fund the premium cost for this group insurance policy that will be valid for one year after activation. Sellers with an active listing on Amazon.in between January 1 2020 and May 1 2021 can enroll themselves under the group policy to get coverage for COVID-19 hospitalization and medical expenses up to INR 50,000. In addition, the insurance policy will also cover domiciliary treatment expenses, as prescribed, up to the sum insured.
READ MORE

May 25, 2021

May 24, 2021

As the country continues to navigate through the pandemic, in addition to various other initiatives launched to support its employees and frontline teams, Amazon India has now launched a COVID-19 Relief Scheme (CRS). Through this initiative, Amazon India will provide additional financial assistance to frontline teams of associates hired through staffing agencies and other eligible employees with a COVID-19 Allowance and additional Hospital Reimbursement.
READ MORE

May 19, 2021

As India grapples with a severe healthcare crisis due to the second wave of COVID-19, Amazon US is leveraging its scale and resources to support India’s fight against the devastating impact of the pandemic. Amazon US is sending critical medical equipment worth over USD 5 million to support hospitals and other COVID care facilities across India.

READ MORE

May 18, 2021

Amidst the rollercoaster tide of emotions that has accompanied India’s second wave of COVID-19, one theme has held strong through it all: gratitude. Gratitude for those like our COVID Warriors who have stepped forth to help others beyond the call of duty; gratitude for collaborations that have made large-scale impact possible; gratitude for the generosity of others.

Here, in salute of those who have made a positive difference in these tough times, we share some of the stories and voices of gratitude we’ve come across.
READ MORE

May 15, 2021

To address the growing customer demand and shortage of critical medical equipment, Amazon India is working with sellers on its marketplace to help them bring in about 9,000 oxygen concentrators for customers in India. These are now available for purchase for consumers and business customers. Amazon’s global procurement teams are helping interested sellers from India connect with leading global suppliers to enable them to procure oxygen concentrators for customers in need, while simplifying supply chain complexities and facilitating the overall process. Amazon’s global supply chain network is helping urgently airlift these oxygen concentrators to India for these sellers. The first batch of 1,000 OCs have already landed in India, with the rest expected to come through in the second half of the month.
READ MORE

May 14, 2021

Against the backdrop of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, Amazon India today announced its partnership with non-profit NGO Prana to help identify plasma donors across various cities in India.
In its initial phase, this campaign will be live for customers in the most affected cities of Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. Customers in these cities will see this campaign on the A.in website and can submit their interest for plasma donation by entering their name, email, phone number, city, age, blood group, weight and date of last RT-PCR test. Prana will thereafter work directly with volunteers to complete the donation process.

May 12, 2021

As the COVID-19 crisis continues to rise in India, Amazon India is leaving no stone unturned to ensure our front line teams are safe and have all the support they need at this difficult time. In an effort to keep our frontline teams who are enabling home deliveries for millions of our customers safe, we have launched multiple initiatives and benefits for our people.
READ MORE

Amazon employee Prahaladhan lives in COVID-ravaged Bangalore, one of India’s hardest-hit cities of the pandemic. But he considers himself fortunate – so far, his family has managed to stay safe. Still, with friends falling seriously ill, the crisis has impacted the senior manager deeply. He recently spent hours on the phone trying to find a hospital bed for a friend suffering from COVID-19, whose oxygen levels had plunged dangerously low. “We started calling everywhere around the city. Only after 7 to 8 hours of non-stop calls did we manage to get him a hospital bed with oxygen.”

That experience made him think about where else he could contribute to improve the situation for the thousands of others in a similar bind, and he set about asking colleagues how he could help. He’s not alone – Prahaladhan’s request is just one of the numerous heartfelt offers of aid echoing throughout Amazon, both locally and globally, as employees seek ways to contribute and join the fight.
READ MORE

May 11, 2021

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the health and safety of our employees, our customers, and our partners has been our top priority. We have made close to 100 changes in our on-ground operations to maintain social distancing in our buildings and keep our associates safe. We adjusted practices within all our operations sites including fulfilment centers, sortation centers and delivery stations through new formats of communications, process changes, new training methods and several policy changes. It is all about Safety first.

READ MORE

May 7, 2021

As we lean in to respond with an urgency to the current crisis situation of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is imperative to ensure the necessary medical supplies can be brought in and reach where they are most needed in the most efficient way. Amazon is therefore leveraging its technology enabled logistics network that connects every post code of the country to ensure speed and reliability for the transportation of life-saving cargo across several states in India.

Backed by its global and domestic logistics network, Amazon is enabling cross border movement of urgent medical supplies and equipment both globally and within the country, helping organizations and NGOs to move these swiftly into India.
READ MORE

As a second, deadlier wave of COVID-19 engulfs India, workplaces around the country have turned into a melting pot of emotions, from distress to despondence. At Amazon, employees have stepped up to help colleagues in need, and what began as heartfelt individual offers of assistance has turned into a full-fledged cause: a dedicated group of COVID Warriors who are reaching out to offer aid and collaborate across the country to support those who require urgent medical help. The team works round the clock and directly with HR and Benefits teams, ready to go above and beyond their call of duty to support colleagues, their families, and friends. From helping to find hospital beds, plasma donors, ambulances and isolation centres, to addressing queries on claims, insurance, leave and salary advances, these Warriors are doing everything it takes to help fellow Amazonians and their loved ones.

READ MORE

May 5, 2021

As India battles with a second, devastating COVID-19 wave, the Global Task Force on Pandemic Response, a newly formed U.S.-based public-private partnership organized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and supported by Business Roundtable, is working with the Chamber’s U.S.-India Business Council and the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum to take immediate actions to help address the COVID-19 surge in India.

Through its Steering Committee, the Task Force will work to concentrate efforts where corporate support will be most beneficial. Andy Jassy, AWS CEO and incoming CEO, Amazon is on the steering committee along with senior executives of other US businesses.
READ MORE

May 4, 2021

Amazon’s business in Europe has committed over $2.5 million to support people in India impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, by purchasing and transporting medical supplies. The company is using its global logistics network to purchase, airlift and deliver some of the critical medical equipment identified by the Government of India and local charities.

Amazon will deliver oxygen concentrators from Italy, ventilators from the UK, and nebulisers and inhalation devices from Germany. The products will be provided to Amazon frontline workers and local charities to help those infected with COVID-19 across multiple cities in India, thereby supporting the capacity of hospitals, medical facilities and public institutions.
READ MORE

May 2, 2021

In this critical hour when hospitals across India are facing a severe shortage of oxygen supplies to treat COVID patients, good Samaritans from the country and the world have stepped forward to help fight the crisis. Impact organisations like Swasth Digital Health Foundation and ACT Grants are helping to get oxygen concentrators to hospitals in remote locations. In this hour of need, oxygen concentrators bring the promise of saving thousands of lives battling the deadly disease by bolstering the resource crunch faced by many healthcare facilities.
Amazon has also stepped into the arena to help alleviate the crisis that millions of Indians are currently grappling with. In partnership with Milaap, South Asia’s largest fundraising platform, Amazon has committed to crowdfund and support Swasth Digital Health Foundation and ACT Grants in their noble mission.
READ MORE

May 1, 2021

Manish Tiwary, VP – Amazon India tells us that why today, more than ever, it is critical to stand with our seller partners and help them in these challenging times.
Amidst these extremely challenging and trying times, health and safety of our employees, sellers and customers is our number one priority. Different teams within Amazon are looking at ways to help the country in every way we can. At the same time, we understand this situation is impacting small and medium businesses (SMBs) the most and we are taking a host of measures to help our sellers navigate the economic challenges caused by the pandemic.

READ MORE

April 28, 2021

Amit Agarwal, Global Sr. VP and Country Head, Amazon India tells us more about what different teams have been working tirelessly on to best support employees within India and the community, while we all navigate through the challenges of this pandemic.

READ MORE

April 27, 2021

As a part of Amazon’s commitment to help India fight the devastating second wave of COVID-19, Amazon India has procured 100 ventilators through its global resources to immediately import these into India. Amazon has worked with MoHFW (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India) to ensure the ventilators are of acceptable technical specification and carried out its own compatibility checks to immediately fund 100 units of Medtronic’s PB980 model and bring them into India for urgent use.

READ MORE

April 25, 2021

In the urgent fight against the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, Amazon has joined hands with ACT Grants, Temasek Foundation, Pune Platform for COVID-19 Response (PPCR) and other partners to urgently airlift over 8000 oxygen concentrators and 500 BiPAP machines from Singapore. All the organizations are working closely with the Indian Government to expedite the entry of these oxygen concentrators and BiPAP machines into the country. The medical equipment will be donated to hospitals and public institutions to augment their capacity to help COVID-19 infected patients across multiple cities.

READ MORE

April 12, 2021

As COVID-19 vaccines become available to individuals above 45 years of age in India, Amazon India is encouraging its employees, associates, sellers on Amazon.in and partners to get vaccinated at the earliest appropriate time to protect themselves, their families, and their communities. Amazon India will cover the COVID-19 vaccination cost for not only all its India employees and associates but will also cover the costs for operations partner network ecosystem of Delivery Service Partner associates, including Amazon Flex drivers, I Have Space store partners, trucking partners and also their eligible dependents. Amazon India announced that the benefit also will be available to all sellers, on Amazon.in with an active listing since last year.
READ MORE