Fife taxi firm offers free trips for vaccinations

M&M Taxis Cupar is offering the service.

The ‘Cabs for Jabs’ service is being run by M&M Taxis, and is open to people with appointments at the Adamson Hospital or other vaccine centres in the Cupar area.

The taxi firm will collect people at their homes and take them to their appointments, wait while the vaccination is given, and then drive them home again.

Lorna Munro, owner of the firm, said that she had come up with the idea after noticing some people in the area struggling to get to their appointments, whether because of concerns over using public transport or difficulties climbing the hill up to the hospital.

“We thought it would be good to help and give people a lift up,” she explained.

"We started it last week, with all the details put up on Facebook, and there was a really good response.

"We’ve already started getting a few bookings.

"It’s nice to see everyone again – it’s lovely to have a chat and catch up.”

The coronavirus pandemic has been a challenging time for taxi firms across Fife, with the closure of pubs and restaurants hitting them particularly hard, as people spend more time indoors.

Lorna said that the firm had received a grant but that it had missed out on additional funding.

"We’ve fallen through the cracks a little bit, because we don’t have a premises,” she explained.

"We might have gotten more support if we did.”

Despite the many challenges the company has faced, Lorna praised her drivers for their work during the pandemic.

"My drivers have been amazing through all of this,” she said.

It was revealed last week that more than 25,000 people across Fife have already received their first vaccination dose.

NHS Fife's director of pharmacy Scott Garden says the health board is on track to administer Covid jabs to all high-priority individuals by early February as it calls upon dentists, optometrists and healthcare support workers to temporarily retrain as vaccinators. A dozen venues have been designated as community immunisation clinics.

Learn more about the offer by searching for ‘M&M Taxis Cupar’ on Facebook.