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Incentives help some get vaccinated

Published:Friday | April 30, 2021 | 12:21 AM
A man wearing a cannabis costume hands out marijuana cigarettes in New York during a ‘Joints for Jabs’ event, where adults who showed their COVID-19 vaccination cards received a free joint.
AP
A man wearing a cannabis costume hands out marijuana cigarettes in New York during a ‘Joints for Jabs’ event, where adults who showed their COVID-19 vaccination cards received a free joint.

NEW YORK:

Places around the US are offering incentives to energise the slowing vaccination drive and get reluctant Americans to roll up their sleeves.

Some involve free beer, doughnuts, marijuana, a chance to win an all-terrain vehicle and savings bonds. These small promotional efforts have been accompanied by more serious and far-reaching efforts by officials in cities such as Detroit, where they’re going door-to-door or paying people $50 to drive others to get vaccinated.

Public health officials say the efforts are crucial to reach people who haven’t been vaccinated yet – whether they’re hesitant or have trouble making an appointment or getting to a vaccination site. Most older Americans are fully vaccinated, so the effort is moving into a new phase.

So far, 43 per cent of adults in the US have received at least one shot, while 30 per cent are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.