Need a ride to a Covid-19 vaccination site? Here’s how to get your trip for free - or at a serious discount

Want to get the vaccine but cannot get a ride? There are several ways to get to a vaccination site if you need a lift, and some are free or heavily discounted.

Since the vaccine rollout began in February, several companies have offered incentives to those who vaccinate. To date SA has administered more than 13.8-million vaccines.

Popular e-hailing services Uber, Bolt and DiDi help transport thousands across the country and have done their part to help with the vaccine rollout by offering free and discounted rides for people to vaccination sites.

Here’s what they are charging to get you to a vaccination site and back:

UBER — FREE UP TO R100

After giving away free rides to teachers earlier this year, Uber recently announced it had partnered with Mastercard to cover two free trips (up to R100 each) to and from select vaccination centres across the country until October 30 2021.

Trips must start or end at select vaccination centres, which you can view here.

How to claim:

• Click on the voucher link here.
• Click “Add Voucher” to add it to your account.
• The voucher will appear in the “Wallet” section of the app.
• The voucher will be applied when requesting a trip to the select vaccination centres mentioned above.
• Navigate to the rides home screen and enter the pick-up/drop-off location for yourself or the person you are booking for.
• Confirm your trip.

BOLT — FREE FOR PINKDRIVE HEALTHCARE WORKERS & A DISCOUNT UP TO R30 FOR 5,000 PEOPLE

Bolt recently partnered with PinkDrive NPC, a community-based healthcare NGO, to get healthcare workers and vaccinators to vaccination sites. SADC regional manager at Bolt Gareth Taylor told TimesLIVE the service will also offer discounts to 5,000 riders.

“Following our recent partnership with PinkDrive, Bolt will be offering 5,000 people across the country a discount of up to R30 on rides to or from vaccination sites, between Monday September 13 and Thursday September 30, in an effort to encourage South Africans to head out and get vaccinated against Covid-19.

“Bolt will cover the cost of drivers’ fares for these trips, ensuring that offering this service does not cost the drivers anything,” Taylor said.

PinkDrive provides trained vaccinators at public sector vaccination sites in Gauteng, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

How to claim: 

• Log into your Bolt app.
• Head over to the promotions tab.
• Insert the code: READYSETVAX30.
• Get R30 off your next two rides (to and from a vaccination centre).
• Codes are valid until September 30 (or the first 5,000 usages).

DiDi — R40 DISCOUNT UP TO TOTAL VALUE OF R80

DiDi’s vaccination drive will launch in Gauteng, Cape Town and Gqeberha on September 27, offering 36,000 return trip vouchers to a value of R80, with a total subsidy just shy of R1.5m. 

The vouchers will entitle qualifying riders to a R40 discount on their trip (total value of R80) and will expire 30 days after receipt.

How to claim:

• The return vouchers will be offered to all eligible riders registered on the EVDS and DiDi’s Vaccine application system.
• There will be a separate product line for vaccination trips on the easy-to-use DiDi app interface.
• Riders need to enter their vaccination appointment details to receive the return trip voucher, which will be valid for 30 days after registration.   

TimesLIVE