Covid: Taxi And Food Discounts Offer To Boost Youth Vaccine Uptake

Young people will be offered discounted takeaways and taxi rides to get their Covid jabs in a bid to boost vaccine uptake, the government has said.

Food delivery and taxi-hailing firms including Uber, Bolt, Deliveroo and Pizza Pilgrims will offer incentives to people to get vaccinated.

The Department of Health said details on more partnerships would be released "in due course".

More than 68% of 18 to 29-year-olds in England have had a first jab.

More than 72% of UK adults have had two doses so far, while 88.5% have had one.

Ride hailing firm Uber will send reminders to all users in August urging them to get vaccinated - and will offer discounted rides and meals on its Uber Eats platform for young people who have the vaccine.

Bolt, another taxi app firm, will offer "free ride credit" to vaccination centres, while food delivery firm Deliveroo will give vouchers to young people who get vaccinated.

The Department of Health said other incentives could include "vouchers or discount codes for people attending pop-up vaccine sites and booking through the NHS, social media competitions and promotional offers for restaurants".

It added that firms would not request or store any health data for the incentive scheme.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid thanked companies for "stepping up" to help the vaccine drive, and urged people to "take advantage of the discounts".

The announcement of the latest initiative in the government's vaccine drive comes after a string of pop-up vaccine centres opened across England this weekend - with sites including Burnley FC's Turf Moor ground, Goodwood Racecourse near Chichester, and the Summer of Love Festival in west London's Holland Park.

A four-day festival with live music and free food, and walk-in vaccine clinics, is taking place in Poplar, in east London, until Monday.

Everyone over 18 has been able to sign up for a Covid jab in England since mid-June.

So far two-thirds of 18-29 year olds have come forward.

That's much lower than the population as a whole and ministers are desperate to increase uptake before the end of summer.

We've already seen the stick; the prime minister warning Covid passports could stop the unvaccinated getting into nightclubs and other venues.

Now for the carrot; giving people discounts and other incentives to get a jab.

Downing Street hasn't said exactly what the incentives will be.

But ministers are in talks with other firms - and discounts in cafes, restaurants and cinemas could follow soon.

The latest plans come weeks after the government said that people attending nightclubs and other crowded venues in England would need to be fully vaccinated from the end of September.

The announcement was met with some criticism, with Kate Nicholls, the boss of UK Hospitality calling the announcement "a hammer blow" for a struggling industry trying to rebuild, while Mark Harper, who chairs the Covid Recovery Group of Conservative backbenchers, said the government was "effectively moving to compulsory vaccination".

The BBC understands that ministers are no longer considering making it compulsory for university students to be fully vaccinated to attend lectures or stay in halls of residence in England - after the foreign secretary previously said students would get "advance warning" if they needed to be double jabbed.