In a bid to
increase vaccine uptake among youngsters, the UK government’s Department of
Health is encouraging ride-hailing and food delivery firms to offer discounts
in exchange for getting jabbed.

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

Official data show
more than 68% of 18 to 29-year-olds in England have had one dose of the vaccine.

More than 72% of adults
in the UK have received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 88.5% have
received just one.

Uber, the
ride-hailing firm, said that it will remove reminders to all users to get
vaccinated in August. The firm will offer discounted rides and meals on its
Uber Eats platform for youngsters who have the vaccine.

Another taxi firm,
Bolt, will offer “free ride credit” to vaccination centres. Food delivery firm
Deliveroo will give vouchers to young people to get vaccinated.

UK Health
Secretary Sajid Javid thanked the firms for “stepping up” to help the vaccination
drive and urged people to “take advantage of discounts”.

Other incentives
include “vouchers or discount codes for people attending pop-up vaccine sties
and booking through the NHS, social media competitions and promotional offers
for restaurants”, the Department of Health said.

The Department of
Health has further said that firms would not request or store any health data
for the incentive scheme.

The latest attempt
at incentivizing vaccination 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.

So far, two-thirds
of 18-29-year-olds have come forward to get jabbed.