To help increase the number of people getting their flu shots, the UK government will offer young people discounted meals and taxi rides. People will be offered a discount on food delivery and taxi-hailing from businesses such as Bolt, Deliveroo or Uber if they get themselves vaccinated. While details on partnerships will be revealed later, the Department of Health has already said that some partnerships are underway.
Other methods to encourage people to get the vaccine will 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 was also reported that local charities have already been giving free taxi rides for people who can not get to vaccination centres on their own.
As of now, it is not clear which age group of people will be eligible to receive the „rewards”, nor if those who have already received this vaccine will be eligible. Moreover, companies will not use any health date for those who benefit from the discounts.
In England, roughly 68% of adults between 18 and 29 years old have had one dose of the vaccination, while 88.5% of UK adults overall have received one dose. The government hopes to increase these numbers by encouraging people to get their shot.
The latest announcement comes roughly a month after the government declared that everyone attending music concerts and other large dance gatherings in England would have to be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus from September. This measure was proposed in order to prevent more people from getting sick. England was also considering at one point making it compulsory for university students to be fully vaccinated to attend lectures or stay in halls of residence.
