Lyft and Uber just made it easier to get to COVID-19 vaccination appointments
Ride-hailing app Lyft launched two new features Thursday in a push to get more people vaccinated against COVID-19.
The two features, Lyft Family and Rides for Others, are more streamlined ways to order rides for people other than yourself. While Lyft envisions users ordering rides to get friends or family to vaccine appointments, the two new functions can be used for any type of ride — whether that's to the grocery store or a doctor's appointment.
The first, Lyft Family, is only available in California, Washington and Oregon for now, but will roll out nationwide in the next few months. As the accountholder you can add up to five family members (family is how you define it) and you will all be part of a shared account. There will be a shared payment method and the account admin will see everyone's trip information.
If you're one of the invited family members, you'll have the option to pay through the Family account when ordering a Lyft ride, rather than with your own card. But remember, your trip receipts will be shared with the accountholder.
The Rides for Others option is a less awkward way to hail a ride for someone else. It's available to all Lyft users in the U.S. When ordering a ride, you can add any rider with their own Lyft account. You can order a ride for someone remotely, like a grandparent who lives in a different state.
You'll be paying for their ride, so you'll see as the ride progresses and if they safely arrive.
That's not the only way more people can get to vaccine appointments. Lyft competitor Uber announced this week it's working with Walgreens to offer free rides to the pharmacy for appointments. This will start in Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, and El Paso for communities in "socially vulnerable areas." Uber is offering up to 10 million free and discounted rides to vaccine clinics overall.
After appointments are made with Walgreens, an email will connect you to the Uber app to schedule a ride to the inoculation.
In December, Lyft also pledged to provide 60 million free and discounted rides to vaccination sites for low-income, uninsured, and other at-risk communities. Working with JPMorgan Chase and Anthem, along with community groups like United Way, the plan is to offer rides through local community organizations. Corporations and nonprofits can also donate a ride to facilitate better vaccine access.
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Another way to get to your vaccine appointment is on an electric scooter or bicycle. Lime is offering four free rides (to and from each appointment for the two doses) in London and Tel Aviv. In Milton Keynes in the UK, free e-bike rides are available since the city doesn't have scooters. Lime plans to expand the free rides to the U.S. soon.
Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.
