These relatively small, mostly corporate, promotion efforts have been accompanied by more serious and far-reaching attempts by officials in cities such as Chicago, which is sending specially equipped buses into neighborhoods to deliver vaccines.
Disneyland is set to open Friday after being closed for over a year, while Indianapolis is planning to welcome 135,000 spectators for the Indy 500 at the end of May.
Demand for vaccines has started to fall around the country, something health officials expected would happen once the most vulnerable and most eager to get the shot had the opportunity to do so.
As demand slows to a trickle at mass vaccination sites such as stadiums, some state and local governments are no longer asking for their full allotment of vaccine from Washington, D.C.
With the shift away from larger sites to pharmacies and medical providers, Pfizer on Thursday said that at the end of May, it will start shipping its two-dose COVID-19 vaccine in smaller packages.
Seventy-six percent of residents remain unvaccinated in Pend Oreille County and 78% in Ferry County, and a whopping 80% in Stevens County have not had even one shot.
Schanz ticks off the efforts so far in the three counties where he is the health agency’s administrator: Newspaper ads, signs and mailers sent with utility bills.
“The idea here is to bring the party, bring the vaccine and really have this be a convenient way for people to get vaccinated,” Chicago Health Commissioner Dr.
Eric Topol, head of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, said that employers should give paid time off and that other incentives are needed to boost vaccinations.
“We also need health systems and universities to mandate vaccination — that no one can be employed or on campus/medical facilities without having been vaccinated,” Topol said in an email.
The governor announced that 15 counties will be designated “Extreme Risk” on Friday, prompting a fresh wave of restrictions on indoor dining, businesses, and places of worship.