CVS Health is trying to incentivize more Americans to get COVID-19 vaccines by offering tickets, cash and vacations to those who get jabbed in their stores.
The pharmacy announced their #OneStepCloser campaign on Thursday, and anyone who has gotten their shots at a CVS location, or will before July 1, is eligible to enter.
Winners can receive 1,000 potential prizes including tickets to the Super bowl, trips to Miami and the Bahamas, stays in Wyndham hotels, a seven-day cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line and $5,000 in cash prizes.
The move comes as demand for the vaccine has stagnated in recent weeks, falling 50 percent since the start of May.
States such as Ohio, Maryland, New York and Oregon have announced similar sweepstakes giveaways for state residents who get vaccinated.
Even private companies have offered incentives to those who get vaccinated, like Krispy Kreme, which is offering a free donut everyday to anyone who has received the vaccine through the end of the year.
CVS is giving away prizes like Super Bowl tickets, cash, cruises and other vacations to winners of their vaccine sweepstakes. Anyone vaccinated at a CVS location between the start of the vaccine rollout and July 1 is eligible to join
After peaking in late April, the United States’ vaccine rollout has significantly slowed down. Many of the remaining unvaccinated population either does not want, or feels like they do not need the vaccine
Enrollment for the CVS giveaway begins on June 1 and anyone who has proof that they received a vaccine at a CVS location is eligible.
‘Getting as much of the population fully vaccinated will bring us one step closer to all the things we’ve missed during the past 14 months, and keep our country moving in the right direction,’ Dr Kyu Rhee, senior vice president of CVS Health. said in a statement.
CVS also announced that more than 17 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered by the company.
Sweepstakes for those who become vaccinated have been seen as a success in their usage so far.
A lottery in Ohio that plans to give away $1 million to a vaccinated resident every week for the next five weeks.
It sparked a 55 percent increase in vaccination rate among the state’s young population with the first winners announced on Wednesday.
Dr Lynn Kamerlin, a professor at Uppsala University in Sweden and public health expert, told DailyMail.com on Wednesday that these types of programs can help get unvaccinated people with small hesitations to do so vaccinated, but not with those staunchly against vaccinations.
After peaking in late April, the amount of Americans to get vaccinated every week has declined over the past month, as the remaining unvaccinated Americans seem hesitant to want it.
Efforts like the CVS giveaway, vaccine lottery programs and Krispy Kreme’s free donuts can help get those on the fence about getting vaccinated to get jabbed, according to some public health experts
Data from the Kaiser Family Foundation reports that 19 percent of Americans will either not get the vaccine under any circumstances, or only get it if it becomes compulsory.
There is no plan for the vaccine to become required in America.
More than 60 percent of American adults, and about 50 percent of the countries total population, have received at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said last week that the country can prevent all future surges of COVID-19 cases if at least 70 percent of adults get vaccinated.
Fauci and President Joe Biden both believe the 70 percent target is attainable by July 4 weekend.
Initiatives like the one by CVS should help push America towards that goal and get the remaining population vaccinated.
CVS, and other vaccine distributors, also get paid by the government for each vaccine they administer, meaning the initiative could also earn them a nice payout.
