Fresh public support for taxi drivers to transport vulnerable people to vaccine centres emerges
There has been fresh support for taxi drivers in the capital to transport the most vulnerable people in society to hospitals and centres for coronavirus vaccinations.
Support for the idea has gathered fast after Piers Morgan tweeted his backing calling it a ‘great idea’.
Andrew Harding, a founder of several leisure and travel firms including yourgolftravel.com, wrote on social media yesterday: “There are 20,000 black cabs and very little work for the drivers. Let’s get them mobilised to collect the old and vulnerable to take them to hospitals for a vaccine. Pay them a daily rate and get London moving again.
“5 each a day is 2million in a month!”
Later that day British journalist and TV presenter, Piers Morgan, replied to the tweet. Morgan tagged in Health Minister Matt Hancock and simply said: “Great idea....”.
That message of support has received nearly 7,000 likes and hundreds of retweets in less than 24 hours.
James Dorney, a London cabbie, replied to Morgan’s tweet saying: “Piers as a London cabbie I suggested this the other day. If a vaccine is the only way out, and logistics could be what is holding back reaching the required amount by March.
“Why not use all resources available. Plenty of us cabbies up and down the country are willing to help.”
The Government has secured access to 100million doses of the coronavirus vaccine on behalf of the whole of the UK.
More than half a million doses are now available, with tens of millions more to be delivered in the coming weeks and months once batches have been quality checked by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). More than 730 vaccination sites have already been established across the UK and hundreds more are opening this week to take the total to over 1,000, helping those who are most at risk from COVID-19 to access vaccines for free, regardless of where they live.
Taxi representatives have also been pushing for taxi drivers to be one of the first groups to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Just after news of the Government formally requesting the UK’s independent medicines regulator to assess the suitability of Oxford/AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine back in November, London’s biggest taxi driver association, the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association (LTDA), urged the Government to include cabbies in one of the first groups to receive any vaccine.
During a debate in the House of Commons in the early part of December, Health Minister Matt Hancock revealed taxi drivers will ‘absolutely’ be considered for early coronavirus vaccinations.
