Source: The Hill
By Alex Gangitano
January 14, 2021
The leading hotel trade group is offering properties to President-elect Joe Biden‘s transition team for use as COVID-19 vaccine administration sites across the country.
The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) said in a Thursday letter to Biden’s incoming coronavirus coordinator, Jeffrey Zients, that its members are uniquely positioned to help with vaccine rollout during the next phases of distribution.
The group noted that there are over 50,000 hotels nationwide that operate around the clock and have the cleanliness protocols, infrastructure like parking and outdoor capabilities, and refrigeration in place to accommodate vaccine distribution.
“By quickly mobilizing an existing network of sites, hotels can help strengthen the delivery and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine in communities across the country to better streamline and build on current state efforts,” AHLA CEO Chip Rogers wrote to Zients.
Rogers added that AHLA early last year launched the “Hospitality for Hope” initiative, which identified over 20,000 hotels and a total of 2.3 million rooms to provide temporary housing for emergency and health care workers during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Through this program, the hotel industry has already successfully partnered with federal and local governments to provide assistance to those in need, including frontline and emergency workers as well as state and municipal public health departments,” he wrote.
AHLA also sent the letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Health and Human Services Department, National Governors Association, Operation Warp Speed and the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
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