Health workers engaged in the programme of vaccination against Covid-19 in the southeastern Brazilian city of São Paulo will be given 60,000 free trips by the app 99 transport service, Xinhua reports.

The Chinese government-run news agency said on Tuesday the app 99 service, owned by Didi Chuxing Technology Co. of China, will also help deliver vaccination paraphernalia.

The report says the app 99 has launched in Brazil the Didi Hero special service will transport front-line health workers and deliver takeaway food and drink to them without charge or at discounted rates, Xinhua says.

Reuters reported that the vaccination programme began on Sunday, when CoronaVac, developed by Sinovac Biotech Ltd of China, became the first officially permitted vaccine against Covid-19 to be administered in Brazil, to a 54-year-old nurse in São Paulo, Mônica Calazans.