Swiggy to cover COVID-19 vaccination cost for over 2 Lakh delivery partners

Swiggy on Wednesday announced that it will cover the COVID-19 vaccination cost of over 2 lakh delivery partners. With more and more companies coming forward to vaccinate their employees, Swiggy is the latest company to join the list. The ride-hailing giant offers its services in over 500 cities in India and has an active delivery fleet with over 2,00,000 partners across the country. It is important for the delivery executive to get vaccinated because they meet a lot of people every day and have higher chances of contracting the virus.

Announcing the vaccination program, Vivek Sunder, COO, Swiggy, said, "Over the past year, our delivery women and men have been a lifeline for the nation, delivering food and other essentials to millions of Indians during their time of need. As we continue to make all efforts to fight the pandemic, we're prioritizing creating awareness across our fleet and extending our Covid cover to include access to vaccination for all delivery partners. We will also cover for the loss of pay when they take the time off to get vaccinated. This is another step in doing our bit for our partners who are supporting not just themselves and their families but also the society as essential service providers."

The Union Ministry has announced the third phase of the vaccination drive, which will vaccinate people above the age of 45 from April 1. Swiggy is hoping to vaccinate over 5,500 delivery partners who are above 45 from April 1. By the end of the vaccination drive, the food-delivery giant is hoping to get all their delivery partners vaccinated because they provide essential services. As of now, Swiggy has introduced new features like no-contact delivery to minimize the interaction between the customer and the delivery partner. It also displays the body temperature of the delivery partner why they pick up orders and have made it mandatory for them to wear a mask whenever they are out for deliveries.

Although the vaccination cost in government hospitals is absolutely free, Swiggy will cover the loss of pay of the driver for that period if the delivery partners decide to go to a government hospital. The company has said that it will also extend its free telemedicine consultation and app-based support for delivery partners for this program.

"All delivery partners engage with Swiggy on a principle to principle basis to provide delivery services to customers. In addition to life insurance, medical and accident cover, through the pandemic, the company has been providing loss of pay cover for partners recovering from COVID-19," the company said in a statement.

Swiggy took care of the financial needs of its delivery partners even when the country went into complete lockdown.