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Black Hawk County To Raffle Gift Card Baskets To Incentivize COVID-19 Shots

Developing a vaccine for meningitis B was tricky. Even the existing vaccine doesn't protect against all B strains.
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Black Hawk County officials say they will raffle off gift card baskets in July to incentivize adults to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Black Hawk County health officials said they are launching a gift card basket raffle to incentivize adult residents to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Officials announced Friday that they will raffle off four gift card baskets each totaling $500 in value every Friday in July.

To qualify, you must be a resident of Black Hawk County, 18 or older, and have received your initial dose of a COVID-19 vaccine between June 11 and July 29.

County Public Health Director Nafissa Cisse Egbuonye said they’re especially trying to reach adults ages 18 to 24.

"That's a population that hardly goes to see their providers," she said. "And so this is also the group that we're trying to reach and incentives have been effective in reaching those populations."

Cisse Egbuonye said the gift card baskets were funded through a private donation from the Otto Schoitz Foundation.

The state's fifth most-populous county has a goal of getting 75 percent of adult residents vaccinated by July 29. Currently, 58 percent of its residents are vaccinated.

Gov. Kim Reynolds told reporters last week she will not enact incentives like a vaccine lottery, as some other states have done.

The state launched a multi-media marketing campaign this week to encourage more Iowans to get the shot.

As of Friday afternoon, more than 1.4 millions Iowans are fully vaccinated, about 45 percent of the total population.

Natalie Krebs is IPR's Health Reporter and collaborator with Side Effects Public Media. Krebs has expertise covering health news and issues, including maternal health and rural health care access. She's covered abortion access and women's health care in Iowa and the Midwest, news from Iowa's state health agencies, and medical care and health concerns for elders. Krebs is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin.