New York City is providing a $100 vaccine incentive to young children getting vaccinated at school sites or city-run clinics. With the recent federal emergency approval of the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5 to 11, city officials are setting up one-day vaccine clinics at more than 1,0000 school sites across the city. Just like with adults, children are administered two-dose primary series, 3 weeks apart. Children who get their COVID shots at schools or city clinics across the five boroughs will be eligible for the $100 incentive that the city has been offered since late-July to new vaccine recipients. After children receive their first dose, families will receive an email with instructions on how to select a prepaid $100 debit card or another incentive that can include free tickets to sporting events or city attractions.1
Some of the other incentives include New York City football club tickets, Brooklyn Cyclones tickets, NYC Ferry 100 ride pass, Statue of liberty and accompanying ferry tickets, a two-week membership to Citibike, NYC public market gift cards ($25) and more! For all vaccinated New Yorkers, some incentives include giveaways from Krispy Kreme, Shake Shack, and Crunch gym2. There is also a NYC vaccine referral bonus program, which incentivizes community and faith-based organizations to encourage members of their communities to get vaccinated by awarding $100 for each person they refer who gets their first vaccine at a city-run site. Once that person receives their first dose, the referral organization can be credited from $100 to a total of $20,0000.2
One-day vaccination sites that serve 5 to 11 year olds started around November 8, and each school will have at least one day of pop-up vaccination sites through November 15. At present, the health department is working with about 1,500 pediatricians and family doctors to prepare for the next phase of the vaccination campaign.3 It is anticipated that the city would receive over 330,000 doses over the next few days.3
A Pfizer-BioNTech study of the vaccine’s efficacy on 4,600 children showed that the vaccine is almost 91% effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 with side effects that were mild or similar to those found in adults. It is now recommended that around 28 million children receive a COVID-19 vaccine.4 The significance of this expanded eligibility cannot go unnoticed. According to Dr. Dave Chokshi, New York City’s health commissioner, if every New Yorker aged 5 to 11 were vaccinated, “we would prevent an estimated 38,000 cases of COVID-19”.5 With the COVID vaccine expanding towards children, there is a chance at making COVID-19 a vaccine-preventable disease among children similar to chickenpox, rubella or rotavirus.5
References
- https://www.thecity.nyc/2021/11/4/22764157/nyc-kids-get-100-dollars-for-covid-vaccine-shots-at-schools.
- https://www1.nyc.gov/site/coronavirus/vaccines/vaccine-incentives.page.
- https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2021/11/04/kids-eligible-for-vaccine-can-receive–100-incentive.
- https://www.amny.com/news/kids-five-to-11-eligible-for-new-york-citys-vaccine-incentive-program/.
- https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-19-vaccine-new-york-city-100-dollars-kids/.
