HELENA — St. Peter's Health and community partners have a new incentive to get vaccinated against COVID-19. If you are still looking for your first dose, that poke in the arm could earn you $50.
You must be at least 18, looking to get your first dose and be a resident of Lewis and Clark, Broadwater, Jefferson, Powell, or Meagher County. 500 appointments are available for the November 17 clinic.
Katie Gallagher of St. Peter’s Health says she hopes that this is good incentive for people to get vaccinated before they catch the virus and potentially end up in the hospital, “We don’t want to hear that people were going to do it, but just didn’t get around to it. We hope that this is the push that the people who might be in that boat need to follow through and get the vaccination.”
Donations from Mountain Health Co-Op and two anonymous donors are helping pay for the clinic. Registration opens at noon on Wednesday, November 10. To register go to sphealth.org/vaxcash. St. Peter’s encourages participants to sign up early, and to keep their appointment once made.
"COVID-19 vaccination remains our best tool to fight this pandemic, helping to keep people healthy and out of the hospital," said St. Peter's Health President of the Medical Group and Family Medicine Physician Dr. Todd Wampler. Currently, around 60 percent of eligible Lewis and Clark County residents are fully vaccinated, with over 20,000 eligible residents still not fully vaccinated. "Our local COVID-19 vaccination rates are not where we'd like them to be. We believe the less than optimal vaccination rates are contributing to the severity of the current COVID-19 surge that is overwhelming our local health care system and leaves us more vulnerable to future surges," said Dr. Wampler.
