Google announces COVID-19-related changes to Maps and Search apps

Google revealed a couple of important changes that will be coming to Maps and Search apps starting this week. The changes are meant to inform Maps and Search users about COVID-19 vaccination sites, as well as state and regional distribution information.

The search giant announced that COVID-19 vaccination locations will be available in Google Search and Maps in the coming weeks, starting with Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, with more states and countries to come.

Apart from showing vaccination locations in these apps, Google will also add information like whether an appointment or referral is required, if access is limited to specific groups, or if it has a drive-through.

More importantly, Google announced that, in order to help with vaccination efforts, it will make some of its facilities in the United States (i.e. buildings, parking lots, and open spaces) available as needed.

Last but not least, the Mountain View company confirmed that it will launch a “Get The Facts” initiative across Google and YouTube to provide people with authoritative information about vaccines.