Organizations Team Up to Provide 60 Million Rides for Vaccine Appointments
A new nationwide initiative—spearheaded by Lyft, Anthem Inc., and others—has been launched to support universal access to receiving the COVID-19 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.
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, according to officials.
“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 in a statement. “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.”
Lyft’s on-demand transportation network provides 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 could play a critical role in transporting them to and from vaccination sites, officials believe.
“Access to reliable transportation represents a major barrier to care for millions of Americans across the country,” said Megan Callahan, vice president of Lyft Healthcare. “In fact, lack of transportation is one of the top reasons people miss medical appointments. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this problem, creating a huge challenge in making sure vulnerable populations have access to the vaccine — especially for seniors living alone, low-income workers, and parents with young children. We estimate that 15 million Americans will face transportation issues trying to get to vaccination sites…”
Indeed, it’s been estimated that nearly 4 million U.S. patients cannot access healthcare due to lack of transportation, which can lead to more emergency room visits and hidden costs—up to $150 billion a year.
Gail K. Boudreaux, President and CEO, Anthem, added, ““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.”
The universal vaccine access campaign is part of the company’s broader LyftUp initiative, a partnership of companies, community organizations and individuals working together to make sure everyone has access to affordable, reliable transportation to get where they need to go.
Working together using Lyft’s transportation platform, companies and social impact organizations will help underserved communities access vaccination appointments by providing subsidized rides for employees and members, and free or discounted rides for those in need. In addition to directly funding rides, corporate partners will leverage their customers and member networks to promote individual contributions to the campaign as well as provide social media and marketing resources to connect people in need with community partners. Community partners will then route ride credits to those in need, officials explained.