In January Governor Inslee announced the Vaccine Action Command and Coordination System (VACCS) Center to create public-private partnerships to harness the best of the private sector to achieve mass vaccination in the safest, fastest, most equitable and efficient way for all Washingtonians.

This program has had strong success to date and is now working to break down remaining barriers that may be preventing people from getting vaccinated, in part by creating incentives that may motivate particular segments of the Washington population. The Governor announced a lottery including both cash and other prizes and the VACCS group has been working with the private sector to identify additional incentives.

Over the past few months, they have had success in creating transportation partnerships (both mass transit and Uber and Lyft) for free rides to and from vaccination sites to remove transportation barriers for citizens. Potential discounts for items such as home goods or groceries are options that may resonate with certain communities. There is a wide array of incentives that retailers might offer. Here is a list of some of the incentives the CDC has inventoried.

The final state vaccine lottery drawing of $1M is on July 13 so aligning any retailer incentives to occur before that date may have the greatest likelihood of motivating Washingtonians.

Retailers who wish to contribute or have ideas for possible incentives that may motivate community members are encouraged to contact Dan Laster, Director of the COVID-19 Vaccine Command and Coordination System (VACCS) Center to learn more.