As our nation pushes forward into a brave new world where the coronavirus pandemic will be nothing more than a memory, there are concerns that some among us are holding up the recovery by being unsure about getting a COVID-19 vaccine.
And this is understandable: The inoculations that have been made available were done so hurriedly, and some of the side effects that we’ve seen thus far have been fairly terrifying.
Now, as vaccine hesitancy becomes a real sticking point in our recovery, the government had to come up with new ways in which to bribe Americans into getting shot in the arm.
On Wednesday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the Mets and Yankees Major League Baseball teams would give free tickets to fans who got vaccinated at the ballparks before games.
New Jersey and Connecticut are partnering with bars and brewpubs to offer a free drink to people who are newly vaccinated, while Maryland announced it would give $100 to state employees who get inoculated.
In Colorado, a non-profit organization is planning to reach out to rural conservatives – a group that includes many vaccine skeptics – at county fairs and rodeos.
Immunize Colorado also will use pop-up and Zoom events to appeal directly to immigrant groups and communities of color, where issues of access and distrust of the medical establishment have prevented many people from rolling up their sleeves.
In order to reach “herd immunity”, a certain majority of the American people will need to be immunized against the virus, whether that be via a vaccine or through the possession of antibodies that are produced when your body fights and recovers from COVID-19.
