Many Parts of the U.S. Needed Persuading to Get Vaccinated. Not South Texas.

In the Rio Grande Valley, it is people’s exposure to death and disease, not offers of free beer or million-dollar prizes, that is driving vaccine rates higher.

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — Gabby Garcia did not expect to feel like crying when she sat down for her first dose of the coronavirus vaccine. But as the long needle pierced her skin, she thought back to the agonizing outbreak in her family that killed her sister, hospitalized her brother and also left her ill for days. “It was a sense of relief, ‘I’m getting it’,” Ms. Garcia said of the vaccine. “It was the sense of what if? What if this had been available sooner? My sister’s death and us getting sick definitely motivated me to get the vaccine.” While officials across the country have offered free beer, concert tickets and millions of dollars in lottery winnings to encourage vaccinations, residents of the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas have needed little prodding. Exposure to death and disease has been enough incentive.