LinkedIn Unveils Vaccine Distribution Features

LinkedIn's effort to help the troubled rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines comes shortly after the Biden administration announced that it had secured another 200 million doses.

LinkedIn announced Wednesday morning that the company is now using its platform to connect vaccination volunteers with "paid support opportunities" in an effort to mitigate the damage of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a company press release, LinkedIn has offered to support for healthcare companies looking to fill essential jobs during the pandemic, filling more than 330,000 positions.

The company's effort to help the troubled rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines comes shortly after the Biden administration announced that it had secured another 200 million doses.

Though 11.5% of the American population has received at least one dose and about 1.6 million shots are being dispensed per day, only 4.2% of the population has received both doses, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Additionally, 75% of administered doses have been distributed as of Wednesday morning.

Meg Garlinghouse, head of social impact at LinkedIn, told HealthLeaders that the company was prompted to contribute its services due to the feedback it received from customer organizations, including healthcare groups, about "talent constraints" during the pandemic.

Garlinghouse said LinkedIn's ability to connect people served as the "perfect manifestation" of accelerating the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines.

"I think as we were trying to figure out what more we could do to assist [healthcare companies,] that's where we thought we could stand up and be more generous in offering and extending their licenses to more job slots," Garlinghouse said. "But in addition, I do want to note that this isn't limited to existing customers. It's also available to anyone who has an urgent hiring need and isn't yet a customer, but just wants to be able to post jobs for free."

She added that LinkedIn owes its gratitude to the healthcare workers that have served on the front lines of the pandemic.

"I'm proud that LinkedIn is doing our part to help these companies who are hiring these extraordinary individuals do their part," Garlinghouse said. "The more efficiently that we can do that, the quicker we can get the right people the right opportunities to hopefully end this pandemic sooner rather than later." 

LinkedIn's announcement also came less than a week after NBC News launched a website focused on COVID-19 news and vaccination information.

Related: NBC News Launches New Website for COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation Information  

Tomer Cohen, Chief Product Officer at LinkedIn, published a blog post accompanying the announcement Wednesday, stating that the company is in a position to help organizations in need of volunteers to enhance the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.

"We are committed to connecting people with opportunity and these connections become even more important in times of crisis. We’re also continuing to keep our members safe and informed when it comes to trusted sources of vaccine news and information, and we are actively working to remove any misinformation about vaccines from our platform," Cohen wrote. "We are proud to do our part to help accelerate the distribution of vaccines by connecting essential businesses that need to quickly find healthcare talent with people who have the right skills."