Phoenix To Offer $100 Gift Cards To Get COVID-19 Vaccine
Phoenix will test a new incentive to boost COVID-19 vaccination rates. On Tuesday, the City Council approved a pilot program to fund up to a thousand gift cards worth $100 each.
Assistant City Manager Jeff Barton said the cards will be limited to gas and groceries and distributed by health care providers currently under contract with the city.
“So, what we would like to do over the next couple of months, see how these 1,000 gift cards incentivize the number of individuals being vaccinated in our underserved communities,” he said. “If, in fact, we do see an uptick in the number of vaccinations we would come back to council and ask for additional resources to continue that program.”
If there’s no increase in vaccinations, Barton said the program would end. Phoenix will use federal funds to cover the $100,000 cost.
Phoenix initially allocated $7.6 million it received from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, known as CARES Act, in 2020 on community testing and vaccines programs.
In 2021, the city earmarked an additional $5 million from its $196 million allocation from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Phoenix expects to receive another $196 million in 2022.
Barton said the city has conducted 220 blitz testing events and conducted 42,000 events while the city’s two mobile testing vans have provided approximately 146,000 tests at nearly 360 events.
