Free rides, beer and savings bonds: Vaccinators get creative

Free beer, pot and doughnuts

Free beer, pot and doughnuts. Savings bonds. A chance to win an all-terrain vehicle. Places around the U.S. are offering incentives to try to energize the nation’s slowing vaccination drive and get Americans to roll up their sleeves. These relatively small corporate promotion efforts have been accompanied by more serious and far-reaching attempts by officials in cities such as Detroit, where they're offering $50 to people who give others a ride to vaccination sites. Public health officials say the efforts are crucial to reach people who haven't been vaccinated yet, whether because they are hesitant or because they have had trouble making an appointment or getting to a vaccination site. “This is the way we put this pandemic in the rearview mirror and move on with our lives," said Dr. Steven Stack, Kentucky’s public health commissioner.