Yahoo Finance Black cab drivers offer to help UK rollout of COVID-19 vaccine
London’s black cab drivers have called on the UK government to use them to help roll out the COVID-19 vaccine.
The Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association (LTDA), which represents taxi drivers in the capital, said it would drive elderly and vulnerable patients to and from vaccination centres as the government aims to reach its vaccination targets.
The association said in a letter to Nadhim Zahawi, vaccines minister, that drivers were “desperately struggling to make ends meet” and that they could be contracted en masse at a fixed rate. The letter was seen and reported by the Financial Times.
“It is a complete no-brainer. We have an army of elderly, vulnerable and less mobile people that need to be taken in, this is the final leg of the struggle,” Steve McNamara, the LTDA’s general secretary, told the FT.
Ride-hailing app Free Now has also written to ministers, offering to help in a similar capacity and requesting for drivers to be given priority access to vaccines.
It comes as the UK, which has been among the leaders in getting people inoculated relatively swiftly, has ramped up its own vaccination programme in the country.
Britain is currently leading the continent’s vaccination race, after becoming the first country to approve the Pfizer jab.
READ MORE: Pfizer says their COVID-19 vaccine ‘95% effective in over 65s’
Around 2.4 million people have been vaccinated so far in the UK, with around 40% of over-80s receiving the jab and 23% of elderly residents in care homes.
Seven mass vaccine centres have now opened in England as the government aims to offer vaccinations to around 15 million people in the UK by mid-February.
Ashton Gate football stadium in Bristol, Epsom racecourse in Surrey, the Excel Centre where London's Nightingale hospital is based, Newcastle's Centre for Life, the Manchester Tennis and Football Centre, Robertson House in Stevenage and Birmingham's Millennium Point will offer vaccines to people aged 80 and older, along with health and care staff.
As part of the vaccines delivery plan, the government also hopes that all adults can be vaccinated by the autumn. It plans to have 2,700 vaccine sites across the country.
Earlier this week, a string of European countries said that the amount of COVID-19 vaccines they are receiving from Pfizer (PFE) has fallen short of their expected supplies.
The US pharmaceutical giant, which has partnered with Germany’s BioNTech (BNTX), has slowed shipments and distribution proceeds unevenly among states in the European Union (EU).
At a video conference of health ministers on Wednesday one-third of the 27 EU governments said they had “insufficient” doses of vaccines. They added that there were also issues with timetabling future deliveries.
Pfizer admitted on Friday that there would be a temporary impact on shipments in late January to early February caused by changes to manufacturing processes to boost production.
Watch: UK begins COVID-19 vaccine rollout
