Kroger to give away $5 million to promote U.S. vaccination effort

Kroger will give $1 million to five customers and free groceries for a year to another 50 to encourage more Americans to get vaccinated against COVID-19, the nation's biggest grocery chain said Thursday. The move has Kroger joining a national effort to get more Americans immunized and derail a pandemic behind the deaths of more than 593,000 Americans. 

Details of the Kroger Health campaign will come next week, and follows a collaboration with the Biden administration to push toward a target of having at least 70% of U.S. adults given their first vaccine dose by July 10, the company said. That target could be hard to reach amid hesitancy by a sizable chunk of the population. "The faster we reach community immunity, the sooner we can all get back to enjoying backyard barbecues, live music and gathering for special occasions," Rodney McMullen, Kroger's chairman and CEO, said in a statement. "As an employer, grocery provider, and community partner, the #CommunityImmunity giveaway is another way we are doing our part to help America recover from the public health crisis and safely return to normal."