Skip to main content

You make this possible. Support our independent, nonprofit newsroom today.

Give Now

Even Washington state isn't getting all the essential supplies it ordered from Amazon

caption: Amazon Prime packages are loaded on a cart for delivery in New York.
Enlarge Icon
Amazon Prime packages are loaded on a cart for delivery in New York.
AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File

The Covid-19 pandemic is complicating Amazon’s business, even as governments turn to the company for essential medical supplies.

Amazon hasn’t come through in full on some important orders by Washington State.

The state is still waiting for some of the face masks it ordered from Amazon, even though they were promised by April 20 and the order was placed at the end of March.

Also around that time, the state ordered N95 respirators and hand sanitzer. More than a month later, Amazon has delivered most of the orders but not all.

Amazon says it is delivering these essentials to governments and hospitals first. Still, the company says it often just can’t find the stuff.

“I think we've learned that it's easier to get ready for a holiday or for a Prime Day than it is to get ready for something like this, when everything hits at once, high demand," said Amazon Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky during the company’s latest earnings call. "But we're doing our best.”

Olsavsky said it's just taking longer to get things into the warehouses and out of them.

May 6, 3:50 p.m.: this story has been updated with clarifying information about orders received.

Why you can trust KUOW