How To Get A Free Ride To A COVID Vaccination Site From Lyft And Uber

Both Lyft (LYFT) and Uber (UBER) are offering millions of free and discounted rides for Americans to get inoculated with a COVID-19 vaccine.

Lyft announced on Tuesday that it was providing 60 million rides to and from vaccination sites for low-income, uninsured, and at-risk individuals when a COVID vaccine becomes available to them.

Uber is offering 10 million free or discounted rides to ensure that transportation is not a barrier to receiving the vaccine.

Lyft has partnered up with JPMorgan Chase, Anthem Inc., and the United Way, as well as Epic, Centene Corporation, Modern Health, One Medical, National Hispanic Council on Aging, National Asian Pacific Center on Aging, National Urban League, and the National Action Network.

Lyft’s partners will distribute the free or discounted rides to its members.

Uber announced a partnership with the National Urban League, Morehouse School of Medicine, and the National Action Network. Uber’s program will provide free or discounted rides to and from a vaccination site for the first and second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

“The availability of a vaccine is no guarantee that it will reach the communities who are most desperately in need of it,” said Marc H. Morial, President and CEO at the National Urban League. “It will require a historic effort on the part of government, private industry and community groups working all working in coordination. We commend Uber for taking the initiative in forming these crucial alliances and we are proud to move forward together in helping to heal the nation.”

Lyft estimates that 15 million Americans will face transportation issues trying to get to a vaccination site during the pandemic.

“Making sure people can get to vaccination sites when they need to is mission critical to beating this virus,” Lyft Co-Founder and President, John Zimmer said. “This is an opportunity to use our collective strength to mobilize on a massive scale and serve our communities. We cannot let lack of transportation be a factor in determining whether people have access to healthcare.”

Shares of Lyft were trading at $49.49 as of 1:28 p.m. ET, down 42 cents, or 0.84%. Shares of Uber were trading at $53.99, up $2.19, or 4.23%.