Swiggy kickstarts mega vaccination drive for two lakh delivery partners
Days after food delivery platform Swiggy announced its plans to vaccinate its two lakh delivery partners against COVID-19, it claims to have commenced the vaccination drive on Thursday. The self-proclaimed hunger savior has started off by vaccinating its delivery partners in Bengaluru, in addition to frontline staff from Instamart, which handles grocery deliveries. The drive also covers staff from its brand kitchens.
Vaccination is a voluntary procedure, so Swiggy can only urge its delivery partners to take the jab. The delivery personnel will receive free medical consultation over the phone to clear any apprehensions about vaccines. Swiggy is also incentivizing the process by covering loss of pay for the time spent receiving both the doses, while ensuring quick and free vaccine access for its delivery staff.
Swiggy has claimed to have already vaccinated thousands of its delivery partners as of this writing, with Bengaluru being the focus of its initial vaccination efforts. The food delivery service expects to have "a large portion" of its delivery fleet inoculated against COVID-19 in the coming weeks. The greater contagious nature of the second wave of the pandemic necessitates these precautions for employee safety.
While Swiggy intends to vaccinate all delivery partners, individual preferences and vaccine availability are limiting factors. That's why Swiggy is working on integrating a means to notify users of the deliver personnel's vaccination status through the app. This is similar to the food delivery app indicating the temperature of its riders during the first wave of COVID-19. Keeping users informed is a smart move.
Since Swiggy's frontline delivery personnel also provides movement of essential groceries and medicine, the company is urging the authorities to ensure priority access to vaccines for its delivery staff. Swiggy's rival food delivery platform Zomato also claimed to have kicked off a vaccination drive for its employees last week. The company has promised to notify its customers of the progress through its app.
