Amazon to cover Covid-19 vaccine cost for more than a million in India

The e-commerce firm is supporting cost coverage for Covid-19 treatment, hospital search and coverage of prescribed Covid-19 tests

E-commerce firm Amazon India will cover the Covid-19 vaccine cost for more than a million people. This includes its India employees, associates and sellers with active listings since last year. It also includes the operations partner network of Delivery Service Partner associates, such as Amazon Flex drivers, I Have Space (IHS) store partners, trucking partners and their eligible dependents.

The Covid-19 vaccination is now being available to all above 45 years of age. The company is encouraging all those eligible to get themselves vaccinated for their own safety and that of those around them.

The new development is an addition to the $2.5 billion investment Amazon has globally made towards special bonuses and incentives for its teams in the last year and the overall $11.5 billion investment towards Covid-19-related measures.

“Over the past year, it has been humbling to see the way our teams, sellers and partners have responded to the challenging situation posed by Covid-19 across the country,” said Amit Agarwal, senior vice president and country manager, Amazon India. “We have seen so much innovation, and most importantly across teams we have seen a strong urge to serve the people of India and keep customers safe.”

Agarwal said the health and safety of teams and partners continue to be Amazon’s top priority. “We are encouraging eligible individuals to get vaccinated, and will cover the cost of vaccination for  our employees, associates, Operations partner network, sellers and their eligible dependents to ensure their continued safety.”

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Amazon India has prioritized the health and safety of its teams, partners, sellers and customers. It has introduced extensive safety measures along with other financial support initiatives. This includes comprehensive support mechanisms for employees including cost coverage for Covid-19 treatment, hospital search and coverage of prescribed Covid-19 tests. It also set up Amazon Relief Fund and Partner Support Fund for its operation partner network. The company has also rolled out a number of measures to support its seller ecosystem that include a variety of fee waivers, relaxed policies alongside facilitating Covid-19 health insurance coverage for eligible sellers.

Last month, foodtech giant Swiggy said it is committed to vaccinating its delivery partners by covering 100 per cent of the vaccination cost for its entire fleet of active delivery partners against Covid-19. Present in around 500 cities, Swiggy has the country’s largest active delivery fleet with over 200,000 partners.