24 DECEMBER 2, 2021 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
City expands $100 vax incentive to include SOMOS sites
BY BEN BRACHFELD
EDITORIAL@QNS.COM
@QNS
New York City’s vaccination rate for adults is
approaching 90%, but the city is still expanding
its incentive program to goad skeptics
into getting the jab.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday that the
$100 incentive for those getting their fi rst dose at a
city-run site is now available to those who get inoculated
at SOMOS Community Care locations.
SOMOS, a network of hundreds of health care providers
across the city, largely operates in low-income
neighborhoods in the outer boroughs where many
don’t speak English as a fi rst language. All of the
network’s care is paid for by Medicaid, and it touts
the fact that its providers “speak your language and
understand your culture.”
“We’ve now tapped into this great network of
health care providers, and we’re creating the ability
for them to vaccinate people in their offi ces, with
the $100 incentive,” Hizzoner said at his daily press
briefi ng Monday. “This is a new way of using the $100
incentive to reach everyday New Yorkers.”
The city has been off ering the $100 sweetener
to fi rst-dose recipients since July, settling on cash
incentives aft er previously off ering everything
from MetroCards to Mets tickets to a free ride on the
Cyclone. The state recently announced that kids who
get vaccinated can enter a lottery to win a full-ride
scholarship to a SUNY or CUNY school.
The city and state began implementing mandates
this summer aft er incentives failed to move the
needle as much as offi cials hoped, and the city now
A healthcare worker administers a shot of the COVID-19 vaccine at a SOMOS Community Care
pop-up vaccination site. REUTERS/Mike Segar
mandates COVID vaccination for almost all of its
public employees as well as for anyone wishing
to enjoy an indoor dinner and a movie (plus other
public accommodations).
Those receiving a booster at a city-run site are not
eligible for the $100 incentive.
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