Taxi drivers taking people to get their covid vaccinations for free in Measham
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They are doing their bit to help protect people against the virus and boost the UK vaccination programme
Image: Leicester Mercury
Cabbies have been ferrying hundreds of people to and from a Leicestershire coronavirus vaccination centre for free in recent weeks.
Taxi-drivers have been thanked for taking people to and from the centre in Measham but not charging them for the journeys.
The drivers were publicly thanked last night for their efforts to help people get vaccinated.
North West Leicestershire District Council leader Richard Blunt said: “The vaccination centre in Measham is working seven days a week so as many people as possible can get the treatment locally.
“I recognise the site is not very easily accessible for everyone.
“I’d like to pay tribute to our volunteers and in particular our taxi drivers who have been supporting people to get to their appointments especially in recent bad weather.
“Some of the taxi drivers have not been charging people which is a truly great example of the community pulling together.”
ouncillor Michael Wyatt said a return trip from Coalville to Measham cost around £36 adding: “The last thing we want is for people not to get their jabs because they can’t afford to get there.
“The cab firms are going above and beyond.”
Yellow Cabs, based in Coalville, has taken more than 500 people to the vaccination centre at Measham Leisure Centre so far without a charge.
Firm boss Dave Underwood told LeicestershireLive: “When we heard that Measham was going to be the local vaccination centre we thought it’s quite a long way from the centre of Coalville - eight or nine miles.
“We are talking about about a trip of potentially £40 to £45 when you include the wait for observation.
“For a lot of elderly people, and others, that is too much.
“So I thought we could do something to help.
“At our busiest we were taking 30 people or more a day.
“We’ve given a commitment to take people back for their second jabs and we have some of those booked in for March.”
Dave said he was paying his drivers and absorbing the cost adding: “I don’t really want to think about how much it comes to but I have been doing this for 25 years in the town and I’ve made a good living out of it and so have some of my drivers
“We are lucky we are in a position where we can do this even though it’s the time when we can probably least afford it.
“We’ll keep on doing it because my view is the more people who get vaccinated the quicker we will be able to get back to something like a normal life and that is better for everyone.”