Free pot, beer used to revive jabs push
Free beer, pot and doughnuts. Savings bonds. A chance to win an allterrain vehicle. Places around the US are offering incentives to try to energise the slowing vaccination drive.
These relatively small corporate promotion efforts have been accompanied by more serious and farreaching attempts by officials in cities such as Chicago, which is sending special buses into neighbourhoods to deliver vaccines.
Detroit is offering $50 to people who give others a ride to vaccination sites, and starting Monday will send workers to knock on every door in the city.
Public health officials say the efforts are crucial to reach people who haven’t been immunised yet, because they are hesitant or have had trouble making an appointment or getting to a vaccination site.
“This is the way we put this pandemic in the rearview mirror and move on with our lives,” said Dr Steven Stack, Kentucky’s public health commissioner.
Meanwhile, more activities are resuming around the US as case numbers fall. Disneyland is set to open today after being closed for over a year, while Indianapolis is planning to welcome 135,000 spectators for the Indy 500 at the end of May.
Still, rising hospitalisations and caseloads in the Pacific Northwest prompted Oregon’s governor to impose restrictions in several counties.
Demand for vaccines has started to fall around the country, something health officials expected would happen once the most vulnerable and most eager to get the jab had the opportunity to do so. Now the vaccination drive is moving into a new, more targeted phase.
Nationally, 82 per cent of people over 65 and more than half of all adults have received at least one dose of vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But while vaccinations hit a high in mid-April at 3.2 million jabs per day on average, the number had fallen to 2.5 million as of last week.
Demand has dropped precipitously in northeastern Washington state, where Matt Schanz of Northeast Tri County Health District is at a loss for what to try next.
Seventy-six per cent of residents remain unvaccinated in Pend Oreille County, 78 per cent in Ferry County, and a whopping 80 per cent in Stevens County have not had even one shot. On Thursday, only 35 people in all three counties booked a first dose through the health agency, down from a peak of 500 daily appointments a few weeks ago.
Schanz ticks off the efforts so far in the three counties where he is the health agency’s administrator: Newspaper ads, signs and mailers sent with utility bills. Drive-thru vaccination sites at fairgrounds and fire stations. A call centre and online scheduling. Outreach to pastors, Republican elected leaders and employers. TV and radio interviews.
Companies are trying to help. Krispy Kreme began offering a free doughnut a day to anyone showing proof of having been vaccinated. In Cleveland, a movie theatre has supplied free popcorn during April.
Several marijuana dispensaries around the country are giving out cannabis treats or free rolled joints.
Some breweries are offering “shots and a chaser”.
In Alaska, which traditionally has low vaccine confidence, the Norton Sound Health Corp has given away prizes, including air tickets, money toward the purchase of an all-terrain vehicle, and $500 for groceries or fuel.