President Joe Biden just announced additional steps to promote vaccine accessibility to help meet the administration's goal of 70% of adults getting at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot by July 4th. In order to encourage Americans to get vaccinated, Uber and Lyft will now offer free rides to and from vaccination sites until July 4th as part of a new partnership with the White House. President Biden said during virtual meeting with governors at the White House,
"To ensure that transportation is less of a barrier, from May 24th through July 4th, Uber and Lyft are both going to offer everyone free rides to and from vaccination sites. I think that is really stepping up."
White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients detailed the new steps by saying,
"People will be able to simply select a vaccination site near them, follow simple directions to redeem their ride, and then get a ride to take them to and from a nearby vaccination site free of charge. The feature will launch in the next two weeks and run until July 4. By helping Americans get a free ride to a vaccination site, Lyft and Uber are eliminating a potential barrier and driving America closer to the President's goal of getting 70% of the U.S. adult population with at least one shot by July 4th."
Additionally, the administration is ramping up vaccination sites with new partnerships with community colleges to provide on-site vaccination clinics. The new initiative will make "it easy for students who will work with federal pharmacy partners to bring on-campus vaccine sites to dozens of the nation's largest community colleges this summer." As of right now about 58% of the adult population in the US have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
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