You can get a free ride from Uber or Lyft for COVID-19 shots until July 4

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A new partnership between the White House and ridesharing giants Uber and Lyft has been set up to get you to your vaccination appointments. The WSJ had the scoop, and the skinny is that your ride to any vaccination site via one of these ridesharing companies will be completely free.

Both Uber and Lyft already had programs for cheap or free rides to be vaccinated in some cases, and with this partnership, that program has been opened to anyone nationwide. There are around 80,000 vaccination sites around the country, and the government will be giving all the addresses to Uber and Lyft to integrate them into their systems.

This is the latest step in President Biden’s efforts to get 70-percent of adults with at least one vaccination shot by July 4. Wouldn’t it be great if we could get to herd immunity by the day we celebrate our freedoms?

As well as the free rides initiative, the White House has also pledged billions of dollars in additional funding to states in aid of their own vaccination outreach.

The funds will come from FEMA, and can be used for outreach, or enabling vaccinations through employers, doctors, or other healthcare providers. On-site vaccinations in community colleges were also announced.

For their part, Uber and Lyft both say they’re not getting paid by the federal government for the partnership, which feels more like a goodwill generating exercise to get people comfortable using their services again.

After all, the gig economy only works if there are enough workers to provide, and ending the pandemic is the only sure way to get people using ridesharing again.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.