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Gojek, Grab bank on driver vaccination
The on-demand service rivals are racing to inoculate their drivers to revive consumer confidence and regain ground lost to the pandemic a year ago.
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O
n-demand services companies are racing to get their ride-hailing drivers vaccinated against COVID-19 in a bid to put customers at ease and revive transportation demand.
Jakarta-based Gojek said it had inoculated tens of thousands of its driver-partners in 29 cities in the past four months and planned to vaccinate up to 2,000 drivers a day.
“[Community] mobility is growing, and this also increases the chances of COVID-19 spreading. Therefore, over the past four months, we continued to optimize our vaccination program so our drivers and customers feel safe during their travels,” Gojek chief transportation officer Raditya Wibowo told a virtual press briefing on Tuesday.
He added that the Gojek app would show users whether their Gojek motorcycle driver or GoCar driver had been vaccinated.
In a survey by the Bandung Institute of Technology’s business management school (SBM ITB), 60 percent to 70 percent of the 532 respondents said that driver vaccination and health protocol compliance were important in choosing a transportation service.
“People prefer to stay at home during the pandemic, but when they need to go out, they will use private vehicles. However, when this is not available, they will use ride-hailing services, and they want drivers that have been vaccinated,” said Yudo Anggoro, director of the SBM ITB’s Center for Policy and Public Management.
The government has allowed private businesses to run independent COVID-19 vaccination programs since March under the Gotong Royong scheme, in tandem with the state-funded vaccine drive.
Read also: Companies begin private vaccination rollout
Rival company Grab Indonesia is making use of the same scheme and has administered 26,000 vaccine doses in eight big cities in Java and Bali, including Jakarta, as of April.
Grab’s driver vaccination program is part of its collaboration with local administrations to inoculate public transportation workers, senior citizens and tourism workers.
"We are thankful that millions of Grab drivers and couriers can [be vaccinated] through this program, especially because they play an important role in serving public needs during the pandemic," Grab Indonesia managing director Neneng Goenadi said in a press statement on April 27.
A Grab motorcycle driver receives COVID-19 vaccine on 27 April 2021 at Grab's vaccination center in Medan, North Sumatra. (Courtesy of Grab Indonesia/-)
The Grab app also informs users about their driver’s vaccination status, and vaccinated drivers also have special stickers on their vehicles and helmets.
In the early days of the pandemic, both Grab and Gojek saw consumer demand plummet, with active users respectively dropping 16 percent and 14 percent during the final week of March 2020.
The government’s mobility restrictions also prompted the two companies to promote their food and package delivery services over passenger transportation.
