COVID emergency winding down, but Cook County still offering incentives for boosters

BLUE ISLAND, Ill. (CBS) — You have about four months left to get a free COVID-19 vaccine booster shot – until things start to change.

If you haven’t gotten the booster, time is running out to get it for free – as the Biden administration is planning to end the COVID-19 emergency declarations on May 11, and expects to run out of government-bought vaccines and treatments as soon as this summer and fall.

But for now, you can still come to health centers around Cook County for vaccines – and the county is even still paying people to get the shot.

As CBS 2’s Jermont Terry reported Friday night, the idea of rolling up your sleeve for a vaccine card seems like a throwback to two years ago. But this week, the Cook County Department of Public Health announced it is paying people $100 to get the bivalent COVID-19 vaccine booster.

“I was a little bit surprised to hear that there are incentives,” said University of Illinois Chicago epidemiologist Dr. Katrine Wallace, “but I’m actually still glad they’re still out there – because we really do need to get these bivalent boosters into people’s arms.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 80 percent of the U.S. population has had at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose – but less than 20 percent of eligible Americans have received the latest boosters that were authorized back in August.

The bivalent boosters target both the original COVID-19 strain and the omicron variant.

“In the city of Chicago, only about one out of five eligible people have gotten their bivalent booster,” said Wallace, who investigates patterns and causes of diseases as an epidemiologist.

Cook County Health sponsors the incentive program.

They quickly filled 1,500 appointments, and they’ll get $100 gift cards – which equates to $150,000 in tax dollars – to get folks boosted.

The money comes from the American Rescue Plan Act. Yet the federal government is pulling back on COVID funds.

Cook County Health told CBS 2:

“Vaccine incentives have been used successfully around the country to encourage individuals to get vaccinated. Given the slow uptake nationally by individuals in receiving the bivalent booster  — despite its efficacy in protecting against recent COVID variants — we felt this was a tool to increase public awareness about the continued availability of the COVID booster and ultimately increase the number of vaccinated individuals.

“Cook County Health is sponsoring a promotion 2/11 – 2/18. We opened up 1,500 appointments for the community and they are all just about gone.

“We typically vaccinate 30-40 community members a day, but will see a substantial increase in those numbers as a result of the gift card promotion, which was funded through ARPA funds.

“We continue to urge people to make sure they are up to date on their COVID vaccine schedule to help prevent severe infection, hospitalization, and death.”

For those uninsured or underinsured, this could be the final chance to get boosted without paying.

“It’s a really good time to get it now while it’s still free; while there are these incentive programs,” Wallace said.

For a list of where you can get the booster in Cook County, follow this link.