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Mobility service provider Ola on Wednesday said it will cover the COVID-19 vaccination cost for all its employees and their dependents.

The vaccination drive will also be extended to all the direct contractual employees, consultants, advisors of the company and their immediate dependents, including spouses, kids , and parents, comprising more than 24,000 people, the company said.

“While this vaccine is voluntary, it is also one of the most effective tools to fight against COVID-19. As the government gears up for the next phase of the vaccination drive, we encourage all our employees and their families to opt for the vaccine and fight against COVID-19,” Ola spokesperson Varun Dubey said in a statement.

The COVID-19 vaccination drive will be over and above Ola’s existing medical insurance policy.

Ola will start extending end-to-end support to those applicable, starting with the ones above the age of 60 years and those over 45 with co-morbidities.

“It will expand this process to include the rest as soon as the government rolls out the next phase of the vaccination drive,” the statement said.

Ola joins the growing list of other companies which have already announced their plans to vaccinate their employees as a preventive measure against the pandemic. These include companies such as Flipkart, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, Reliance, Capgemini, Accenture, Upgrad, RPG Group etc.

Flipkart follows suit

India’s leading ecommerce marketplace, Flipkart said that it will bear the costs of COVID-19 vaccines for all its employees as the company joins a host of other corporates who rolled out similar initiatives.

An e-mail sent out to all the employees of Flipkart and Myntra from the Chief People Officer, Krishna Raghavan, which has been reviewed by YourStory said,

“I am happy to share that Flipkart Group has decided to cover 100 percent of the vaccination cost for all Flipkart and Myntra employees and three dependents.”

The current vaccination drive in the country is in its second phase where people above the age of 60 are on the priority list. This also includes people in the age group of 45-60 who have co-morbidities.

The two vaccines to combat COVID-19 that have been approved by the government are Covishield of Oxford/AstraZeneca, which is manufactured by Serum Institute of India, and Covaxin of Bharat Biotech.

(Disclaimer: Additional background information has been added to this PTI copy for context)