Apple Maps users will now be able to see the location of the COVID-19 vaccination centres in the United States (US). The new update will use the data available on the website VaccineFinder to share the location of vaccine centres with Maps users. iPhone users can update their Maps app to access this feature. With the new update, they can also ask Siri to share the location of the centres. The update was rolled out on Tuesday, 16 March.
Details related to the vaccination centres like address, hours of operation, phone number and link to providers’ website will also be displayed in Maps. More vaccination centres will be added to the feature, which currently has 20,000 vaccination sites listed.
Apart from the latest efforts in helping US users find vaccination centres, Apple had introduced the option to find coronavirus testing sites in Apple Maps last year. Apart from the US, this feature was also made available to Maps users in Thailand, Japan, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, France, Singapore, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal and Taiwan. On the Apple Business Register page, healthcare providers and labs can also submit the details about vaccination or testing. Apple will display this data in Maps along with the VaccineFinder information.
The tech giant also included finding the latest news and information regarding the pandemic through Siri. Using the assistant, iPhone users can also find locations of restaurants with outdoor dining.