Didi Chuxing announces £7.3million fund to support COVID-19 vaccination rides
Didi Chuxing (“DiDi”), one of the world’s leading mobility and convenience platforms, has announced a new ‘Global Vaccination Support Fund’. The USD $10 million (£7.3m) fund is to support COVID-19 vaccination efforts across the local communities DiDi serves. This flexible new fund is designed to provide locally tailored support for vaccination efforts across the 13 countries DiDi operates in outside of China. In most of the cities and communities DiDi serves, this will include free or deeply discounted rides for people traveling to vaccination appointments, or for healthcare workers providing vaccinations.
The fund may also be used to support other measures going forward, based on local needs. As local conditions and vaccine availability differ significantly and are changing quickly, DiDi have said they will continue working closely with governments and healthcare authorities to adapt and supplement the company’s support to what is most needed locally.
Announcing DiDi’s ‘Global Vaccination Support Fund’, Jean Liu, President of DiDi, said: “The vaccination support initiative is a crucial step in our local recovery effort across the world. The incredible commitment and agility of DiDi teams, together with a safety system built for complex mobility scenarios, play a critical role in protecting our people and ensuring essential services throughout these challenging times. We will continue to stand by our partners and communities to get our cities moving again.” Over the past year, DiDi has: · Sponsored more than 6 million free or deeply discounted rides and meals for frontline healthcare workers under the “DiDi Hero” initiative; · Distributed more than 6 million masks and sanitation kits to driver and courier partners; and · Provided financial support to tens of thousands of driver and courier partners impacted by COVID-19.
In China, DiDi has: · Helped organise hundreds of thousands of drivers who signed up to join DiDi’s medical fleets, which sponsored more than 1 million free rides to healthcare workers. · Set up over 200 offline sanitation stations to provide free masks, sanitation kits and plastic divider installation for driver partners. · Provided funding of over RMB 200 million to support drivers, including special insurance for driver partners with confirmed cases or those who were required to quarantine.
