In its ongoing effort to boost vaccination rates east of the Anacostia River, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s administration will expand its existing $51 gift card offering to people who help a friend or family member receive a shot at three locations in Southeast and Northeast D.C.
On Tuesday, the city is launching a new “vaccine buddy” program at Anacostia High School, the RISE Demonstration Center at St. Elizabeths, and Ron Brown High School. City residents who help a friend, neighbor, or family member get a shot at any of those three sites can redeem up to 11 VISA gift cards worth $51 each — one card per shot recipient. The person who gets the shot will also receive a $51 gift card, which can be used like a debit card at any merchant.
The buddy offer is limited to D.C. residents 18 and over who present a government-issued ID, but residents who are 12 and older can also get a $51 gift card after their first shot at those same sites, through July 17.
The new incentive comes on top of a previously announced prize drawing, which promises free cars, a year of free groceries, and a year of free Metro bus and train trips for the lucky winners.
The various goodies are part of Bowser’s targeted effort to vaccinate more residents in the city’s lowest-income communities, which are disproportionately Black. Earlier this month, the mayor appeared on doorsteps throughout Ward 8 alongside National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, in a push to persuade residents to get the shot.
About half of the city’s residents are now fully vaccinated, according to D.C. data. Ward 8 has the city’s lowest vaccination rate, at 21% fully inoculated as of June 21. The vaccination rate is 27% in Ward 7. The remaining wards are all at least 40% fully vaccinated, with the highest rate — 48% — in Ward 6.
The new incentives are in addition to other rewards being handed out by businesses, including local breweries and restaurants, to residents who get a shot. In Maryland, the state is running a vaccine lottery through July 4, with a grand prize of $400,000.
Vaccinations at the three distribution sites in D.C. had doubled as of June 25, according to the Washington Post, but it’s not clear whether the incentives had anything to do with that.
Ally Schweitzer