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Lyft Is Making it Easier to Get Vaccinated

Lyft is teaming up with numerous partners for its LyftUp initiative to offer rides to residents who cannot get to vaccination sites.

The initiative aims to provide 60 million rides to vulnerable populations, such as the elderly, low-income, and uninsured residents, disproportionately affected by the Covid-19 virus, who do not have access to transportation.

“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.”  

Companies collaborating include JPMorgan Chase, Anthem Inc. and United Way. Other organizations involved in the initiative are NAACP, Hispanic Council on Aging, Epic, Centene Corporation, Modern Health, One Medical, National Urban League and the National Action Network.

Depending on eligibility, the rides will be either free or heavily discounted to those who request one to and from a vaccination site. Lyft app users can fund rides for someone in need. Ride recipients must be registered with their own account and have the Lyft app installed on their phones.

Organizations can also fund rides for their employees or patients through a Lyft Business account. They can also donate rides by emailing supportlyftup@lyft.com.

For more information about the program and free to low-cost eligibility, visit Lyft’s website

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Photo credit: Lyft

Ema Gavrilovic

Ema Gavrilovic is a graduate of DePaul University with M. Ed in clinical counseling degree. Ema's career accomplishments include freelance writing, social media and PR consulting. In her spare time Ema likes to explore outdoors, cooking and yoga.