Lyft, Inc. (LYFT) today announced the launch of a nationwide campaign to support universal access to the coronavirus vaccine. The goal of this effort is to provide 60 million rides to and from vaccination sites for low-income, uninsured, and at-risk communities, when the vaccine becomes available. Corporate partners JPMorgan Chase and Anthem Inc. and community partner United Way will be working alongside Lyft to lead the effort, with many other business, healthcare and technology partners preparing to join the campaign as vaccines become available in the coming weeks.
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“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.”
Additional program partners signing on to launch the effort include 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.
“Rideshare connects communities with people, places, and things that matter most, including health care services,” said Marianne Lake, Chief Executive Officer of Consumer Lending at JPMorgan Chase. “Chase is committed to serving all communities and ensuring there are no barriers to families getting this critical vaccine once it’s available to them.”
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“At Anthem, we understand our important role to support community health and ensure access to care. With the highly anticipated vaccine now rolling out across the country, we are pleased to be joining Lyft and other leading partners to ensure our nation’s most vulnerable consumers will have the opportunity to receive the vaccine,” said Gail K. Boudreaux, President and CEO, Anthem.
“Every day a lack of safe and reliable transportation hinders peoples’ ability to access basic needs like good jobs, healthy food and public benefits,” said Suzanne McCormick, President of United Way U.S. “By joining Chase, Anthem and Lyft as an early partner of the universal vaccine access campaign we will make getting to and from vaccine appointments as easy as dialing 2-1-1.”
Lyft’s on-demand transportation network provides critical access to healthcare services for at-risk communities disproportionately affected by COVID-19, including non-emergency medical transport for home-bound seniors, people living with disabilities, and dialysis patients. Many of these patients belong to vulnerable populations who will be prioritized for early vaccine distribution, and Lyft’s healthcare transportation services will play a critical role in transporting them to and from vaccination sites.
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