Cheap meals and discounted taxi rides: Firms to offer jab-linked incentives to help boost vaccine uptake
Discounted meals and cheaper cab rides will be offered to customers who get a COVID-19 jab, as part of a government-led attempt to boost the uptake of vaccines.
Uber, Bolt, Deliveroo and Pizza Pilgrims are among the brands that will offer incentives to encourage young people to get vaccinated.
Almost three million under-30s are yet to receive a first COVID vaccine dose.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said taxi app firm Uber will be sending reminders to all users in August encouraging them to get jabbed.
The company will offer discounted journeys for young adults who receive a vaccine, as well as cheaper meals on its food delivery platform, Uber Eats.
Bolt, another ride-hailing app, will offer “free ride credit” to vaccination centres following a similar scheme earlier this year when it offered £250,000 worth of free rides to London vaccination facilities.
Deliveroo will give vouchers to young people who get jabbed.
Deliveroo will also be offering discounts. Pic: AP
A spokesman said: “We want to do our small part to support the NHS during the pandemic, including delivering a million free meals to frontline NHS staff and vaccine centres. This is the next step in helping people get vaccinated and safely back to normal.”
The DHSC said further details on partnerships will be released “in due course” and other incentives “could include vouchers or discount codes for people attending pop-up vaccine sites and booking though the NHS, social media competitions and promotional offers for restaurants”.
The government added: “Companies will not ask for or hold any health data for the incentive scheme.”
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Southgate urges young people to get jab
Bolt will be offering ‘free ride credit’ to vaccination centres
Up to 30 July, 46,811,298 people in the UK have had a first coronavirus vaccine, with 38,126,702 double jabbed.
This means about 88.5% of adults had at least one jab, and 72.1% had two.
Currently, around 67% of 18 to 29-year-olds have had at least a single injection, according to the DHSC.
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Health Secretary Sajid Javid thanked the businesses involved in vouchers scheme for “stepping up”.
Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said there was “strong enthusiasm” among young people so far to get vaccinated, adding: “Please get your jabs as soon as you can and grab a bargain.”
A man’s body has been recovered from an area of flooding in North Yorkshire, police have said, as major incidents have been declared in two counties.
The body was found near Intake Lane in Beal, close to Eggborough and Knottingley.
Police believe the man may have entered the water in the last 24 to 48 hours.
Follow the latest on the weather
North Yorkshire Police said: “Despite extensive enquiries, including with our colleagues in Humberside and West Yorkshire Police, we have been unable to identify him.
“He was found without any identification or personal belongings.”
The man was also described as white, in his early 50s to 60s, with light brown short hair and stubble.
He was wearing brown walking boots, blue denim jeans, a multicoloured knitted jumper and possibly a dark green waterproof coat, police added.
It comes after Leicestershire and Lincolnshire both declared a major incident in response to the extreme weather hitting the UK and Ireland.
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Leicestershire Fire and Rescue was the first emergency service in England to declare an incident and said it had received more than 200 calls since Monday morning over widespread flooding.
Crews had found cars stuck in floodwater and evacuated residents from flooded homes and rising waters, with some 17 people rescued as of 1.45pm.
The Lincolnshire Resilience Forum declared a major incident shortly after, and noted that emergency services had rescued children who were stranded at a school in Edenham.
Meanwhile, the Met Office has three yellow weather warnings – each for snow and ice – in effect throughout Monday evening and Tuesday morning.
Pic: Met Office
A warning covering the west and north coast of Scotland – reaching into Inverness and Aberdeen – will last until midday, while an alert in effect for all of Northern Ireland will last until 11am.
The Met Office has also issued a warning covering Wales and parts of northwest England on Monday evening, moving into southwest England, the Midlands and parts of southern England in the early hours of Tuesday.
On Wednesday, a yellow weather warning for snow is in effect across the south of England – stretching from just above Truro in Cornwall to Canterbury in Kent – from 9am to midnight.
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