Go Carz, the biggest private hire taxi operator across Shropshire and the West Midlands, is offering free taxi rides to help roll out the COVID-19 vaccine to the first wave of elderly and vulnerable patients of Telford. Formed in 2017, Teldoc is Shropshire’s first super practice, with a patient population of over 48,000. In accordance with national guidance, Teldoc have commenced vaccination of the elderly and vulnerable in the local community.

Go Carz are working with participating Teldoc practices to offer transport only to those eligible persons who have been invited to make a vaccination appointment if they have no other means of transport. These free rides provide a COVID-safe taxi journey to the vaccination centre only, and the patient has the option to book a safe journey home too. Eligible individuals who have been invited to make an appointment with the vaccination centre, will be able to claim their free journey using a dedicated account and provided by the Teldoc telephone operator. Patients will then be able to phone Go Carz dispatch centre to book their free ride using this information.

The gesture of goodwill will benefit the elderly and vulnerable within the local community who, without Go Carz and Teldoc’s help, would have had their vaccination delayed.

Graham Hoof, Regional Director of Go Carz, said: “Many of the elderly and vulnerable may feel safer in a private hire vehicle rather than public transport. Safely transporting them to ensure they can get their vaccination is a vital step that we can assist with to help our local community beat COVID.”

Go Carz was also one of the first transport companies to introduce additional health and hygiene measures in 2020 to make journeys as safe as possible for all passengers and driver-partners. The measures, designed to mitigate the spread of coronavirus, include specialist cleaning regimes, in-vehicle protective screens, the wearing of face coverings and passengers sitting in the rear of the vehicle.