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Google on Thursday said it is adding a new feature on Search that will surface a list of authorised vaccines in users’ locations as well as information panels on each individual vaccine.
The feature will be rolled out first in the UK, which gave emergency authorisation to the BioNTech/Pfizer coronavirus vaccine earlier this month.
The search-giant said it will introduce the feature in more countries as governments begin authorising vaccines.
The feature can be viewed at the top of Google search for Covid-19 vaccines. It will provide information in a box above the search result, with health authority as its source.
The panel will have two tabs. One will give the overview of the vaccine and appear above Top Stories. It will also showcase links to local and national resources such as the government websites below the Top Stories. The other tab will provide news related to the vaccine in a different section.
Through this feature, Google aims to educate the public by addressing misperception on the vaccine and help reveal official guidance to people on when, where and how to get vaccinated.
Google said its COVID-19 information panel featured on the YouTube homepage, and on videos and in search results about the pandemic have been viewed 400 billion times.
