Aug. 23, 2021 9:15p
(WGTD)---Gov. Evers upped the ante Monday for unvaccinated Wisconsin residents to get vaccinated.
Now through Labor Day, anyone in the state who receives a first dose of the COVID vaccine will be eligible for a $100 gift card.
And because a local incentives program is already in place in Racine, City of Racine unvaccinated residents who receive full doses between now and Labor Day stand to pocket $200.
It’s all an effort to boost vaccination rates. Statewide, about 54% of the total population has received at least one dose. The rates are lower in Racine, Kenosha and Walworth counties.
In Racine, the local incentives program took effect last week. One of the first places to offer gift cards was at a pop-up clinic held Saturday at Humble Park, site of a non-profit’s back-to-school event.
In the first two hours of the clinic, 25 shots were administered, but not all of the takers came out primarily because of the new incentive program.
51-year-old Cassandra Gray-Carter said the tipping point for her decision to get the vaccine was that three extended family members recently tested positive. "I was coming anyways," she said.
Renisha Murillo was one of the organizers of the back-to-school event and had made arrangements for the pop-up clinic. Vaccinated herself, Murillo brought in two relatives to get vaccinated, and wound up becoming eligible to receive a pair of $50 gift cards for her efforts. "I wasn't expecting it. I wasn't even aware of the 'good neighbor' benefit or anything," she said. "I think we should be getting as many people vaccinated as we can," said Murillo, adding that she thought that the incentives program was a good idea.
Under the city program, gift cards are handed out on the spot.
To qualify for the state program, newly-vaccinated residents must fill out an online form.
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