The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) is providing free, family-friendly COVID-19 vaccination clinics across the state this fall where residents of the Commonwealth can get vaccinated or boosted against COVID-19 and receive a $75 gift card for each dose administered. Staying up to date on vaccines, including boosters, is the most effective way to prevent getting seriously ill from COVID-19.
Clinics offering the special incentive will be held at the Chelsea Senior Center, 10 Riley Way, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the following weekends: Oct. 29-30, Nov. 5-6, Nov. 12-13, Nov. 19-20 and Nov. 26-27.
All of the clinics will offer the updated “bivalent” COVID-19 boosters, including those just recently authorized for children ages 5 and older. These boosters provide the best protection against the Omicron variant and its subvariants, currently the most prevalent strains of COVID-19 in the United States.
“We’d like to see as many people vaccinated as possible and so we are offering these community-based COVID vaccination clinics – including a $75 gift card incentive at select locations – to make it easier to protect your whole family against COVID-19,” said Massachusetts Public Health Commissioner Margret Cooke. “These boosters are tailored to the most common variants of the virus and have been proven safe and effective for adults and children. If you’ve been thinking about getting the vaccine, now is the time.”
The $75 gift card incentive will be offered at select clinics to any Massachusetts resident who receives a vaccine or booster at the clinic. No ID or proof of health insurance is required, and the incentives will be available as long as supplies last.
Through the state’s Vaccine Equity Initiative, DPH is putting a particular focus on communities where booster rates are lowest, aiming to encourage vaccination of families ahead of the winter holidays, a time when large groups gather indoors. DPH is partnering with local organizations to encourage vaccinations and boosters, with the goal of mitigating the worst impacts of the pandemic this winter.
Massachusetts is a national leader in vaccination rates with over 84 percent of eligible residents fully vaccinated and over half of adults boosted. COVID-19 vaccines and boosters have been rigorously tested and proven safe and effective by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, providing protection from the virus and preventing serious illness.
Learn more about the COVID-19 vaccination clinics offering incentives, and find a clinic near you at mass.gov/GetBoosted.