Pharmacy chain CVS is helping President Joe Biden’s push to get 70% of Americans vaccinated against Covid-19 by Independence Day, promising customers prizes ranging from tropical cruises to a trip to Superbowl LVI if they get shots.
The move by CVS, which has over 9,600 pharmacies across the United States, adds to the range of incentives being offered by states and companies desperate to get vaccination rates up and American life back to some degree of normality.
New York‘s “Vax & Scratch” program is handing out free lottery tickets to adults getting their first dose this week. Gov. Andrew Cuomo also announced Wednesday a new incentive for New Yorkers ages 12 to 17 to get vaccinated: a chance to win one of 50 available full-ride scholarships to any public college or university in the state.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine earlier this month offered baseball tickets and beer as well as a $1 million prize draw for those who got at least one vaccine dose.
The CVS scheme will run from June 1 and feature gift cards and prizes from consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble, dating app Hinge, and Norwegian Cruise Line in a series of weekly sweepstakes.
More than half of all U.S. adults have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, but the pace of vaccinations has slowed in recent weeks due to ambivalence or skepticism about the medication and declining infections.
(Reporting by Manojna Maddipatla in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr)
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