If you're searching for "COVID-19 vaccination location near me," you should know that Google Maps may be, in Apple's words, "the app for that"

In a blog post authored by Google CEO Sundar Pichai, the search giant announced that it will highlight COVID-19 vaccination locations in Google Search and Maps as part of its efforts to support global vaccination The screenshot shows the results for Tucson, Arizona, when searching for "covid vaccine Tucson"

Why Tucson? According to Google, the first four states to receive data on Covid-19 vaccination sites are: Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas Of course, this is not the end of the story, the post notes, with "more states and countries to come"

As a result, it also highlights whether advance appointments are required, whether referrals are needed, whether the vaccine is distributed through a drive-through, and whether there are restrictions on what patients can receive the vaccine at this time

As for how Google is getting all this data right, Google is not doing this alone It is "working with partners like VaccineFinderorg, an initiative of Boston Children's Hospital," and with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Harvard Medical School Government agencies and retail pharmacies will also work with Google

The distribution of vaccination site information is critical at this point, and it is unfortunate that it is not going as far as it should right now In an email to constituents, New York City Councilman Mark Levine noted that the city's own vaccine search tool "misses several private hospitals and state-run sites"

Google also plans to add "state and local distribution information" to its search results to help people know when they are eligible for vaccines

But Google is much bigger than search and maps, so it also has the job of spreading correct information about the Covid 19 vaccine throughout its site So, to combat the spread of disinformation, Google plans to "disseminate authoritative information about the vaccine to the public" by launching a "Get The Facts" campaign and spreading it across Google and YouTube

Last July, Google announced that it would ban ads from articles spreading Covid 19-related conspiracies Google could also claim that it can hide or remove videos that spread false information about vaccines, or de-platform the people who created those videos

Pichai's post also states that Google's own "buildings, parking lots, and vacant lots" will be available for vaccination sites The first sites will be in Kirkland, Washington, followed by Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, and New York City on the coasts