Several cities and states are offering incentives to children to entice them to get their COVID-19 shots.
Officials in North Carolina are weighing an incentive program that mimics a summer vaccine campaign, CBS17 reported Wednesday. During its Summer Card pilot program, the state gave anyone getting vaccinated or driving someone to get their shots a $25 gift card.
“We are looking at ways to replicate that,” Dr. Mandy Cohen, the state’s health secretary, said Wednesday, according to the news agency.
In Chicago, 5- to 11-year-olds can claim $100 Visa gift cards when they get their shots at city Department of Public Health (CDPH) events or clinics. Additionally, Chicago Public Schools will close Friday for Vaccine Awareness Day so that children can go get their shots.
City employees also will receive two hours paid leave to go get COVID-19 vaccines for themselves and their families, according to CDPH.
“Vaccines are safe, effective, and the best way to protect our communities from COVID-19,” CDPH Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said Tuesday in a statement. “I applaud this city-wide effort on Friday to help our children get vaccinated and eligible parents get their booster doses, making our schools even safer teaching and learning environments for staff, students, and families.”
On Tuesday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that 5- to 11-year-olds who get vaccinated can enter to win a full scholarship to any two-year or four-year state public university or college.
The “Vaccinate, Educate, Graduate” program lasts until Dec. 19. Parents or legal guardians of any New York 5- to 11-year-old and who has received at least their first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine can enter their child for a chance to win one of 50 scholarships.
Officials in New York City also are awarding children $100 if they get their first dose of Pfizer’s vaccine at city-run vaccination sites. Children can opt to get tickets to city attractions such as the Brooklyn Cyclones baseball team or the Statue of Liberty instead of the cash reward.
“We really want kids to take advantage, families to take advantage of that,” Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters last week. “Everyone could use a little more money around the holidays. But, most importantly, we want our kids and our families to be safe.”
Ohio is raffling off scholarships. The state will host drawings for 150 scholarships worth $10,000 and five scholarships worth $100,000 for 5- to 25-year-olds. The state health department announced last week the expansion of the Ohio Vax-2-School program to include 5- to 11-year-olds.
Louisiana is offering $100 to kids who get their shots before the end of the month as part of a program for the general public. More than 19,000 people participated in the “Shot For $100” program as of Oct. 27, according to the Louisiana Department of Health.
In San Antonio, Texas, parents and guardians who help their children get vaccinated at a public health clinic can claim a $100 gift card for H-E-B grocery stores.
Meanwhile, Minnesota officials on Tuesday launched their “Kids Deserve a Shot” program, which gives 12- to 17-year-olds who complete their two-dose COVID vaccine series by the end of the month a $200 Visa gift card.
Also, any residents in this age group who have become fully vaccinated against COVID-19 any time this year can enter to win a $100,000 scholarship to attend any public or private nonprofit school in Minnesota.
The state will hold five drawings for the scholarships. All fully vaccinated 12 to 17 year olds will also be eligible to enter drawings for fun state experiences.
While these incentives are meant to encourage vaccination, an October paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research says the financial incentives did not increase overall vaccination rates.
For the study, the researchers had randomly assigned unvaccinated members of a Medicaid managed care plan to $10 or $50 financial incentives along with different public health messages and a simple appointment scheduler to study vaccine update within 30 days.
The incentive programs come as pediatricians this week expressed concerns about the growing number of infected children with COVID-19.
More than 100,000 children each week have tested positive for the coronavirus for 13 weeks straight, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) said Tuesday.
The AAP said a weekly report shows that the rate of children sick or dying from the Delta variant’s surge is much worse this year compared to last winter.
Just over 11 million of U.S. children ages 12-17 are fully vaccinated, the AAP said, citing data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
About 13.7 million U.S. children under age 18 have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, the organization said Tuesday.
The White House estimated Wednesday that 900,000 5- to 11-year-olds will have received their first COVID-19 shot by the end of the day.
For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.
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