Pizza and shopping discounts to be offered to boost vaccine take-up
People will be offered discounts on pizza, cinema trips and ride sharing apps if they get vaccinated as a part of a campaign by the government to get more young adults to take the vaccine.
The government is reportedly speaking to dozens of companies, including coffee and cinema chains, about rolling out a voucher scheme for people who take the vaccine.
Vaccine take-up has been far lower for 18-30-year olds than any other age group so far.
Around 67 per cent of people in this age group have taken one vaccine.
Uber and Deliveroo are already offering discounts or credits for people who have just had the jab.
The Sunday Telegraph reports that this will soon be significantly increased and that the government is looking to expand the scheme to coffee and cinema chains.
Pizza Pilgrims is in discussions with the government about opening a vaccine pop-up in one of its central London restaurants and will offer a free slice of pizza for attendees.
One Whitehall source told Telegraph: “This is just the start of it, we are expecting a number of other companies to get involved. We are looking to move quickly on this.”
Thom Elliot, Pizza Pilgrims Founder, said: “By making getting your jab as easy as grabbing a pizza, hopefully we can help our teams and our customers get both their first and second doses as easily and quickly as possible.”
Boris Johnson has already indicated people will need to be vaccinated to enter nightclubs from October and numerous media reports since have indicated vaccine passports will also be needed for mass events.
It has been speculated that these plans could be scrapped if enough young people get the vaccine over the next six weeks.