HARLINGEN — It’s taking cash to boost one of the state’s highest COVID-19 vaccination rates.
Today, city commissioners are set to extend a program offering residents $50 cash cards to take the vaccine as health officials get ready to start vaccinating children 5 to 11 years old.
“We’re trying to capture the children,” Josh Ramirez, the city’s health director, said Tuesday.
In September, commissioners set aside $100,000 from the city’s $21 million share of the American Rescue Plan Act to launch the program which has offered cash to more than 200 residents, he said, adding the project closed last week.
Now, commissioners are planning to extend the program through Nov. 30.
After the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the vaccine for children 5 to 11, health officials are awaiting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines before administering Pfizer’s pediatric vaccine containing a third of the original vaccine’s dosage.
Meanwhile, about 20 percent of parents don’t want their children to take the vaccine, Ramirez said, referring to national figures.
However, in the Harlingen area health officials have vaccinated about 85 percent of students, he said.
Now, Ramirez thinks $50 might help some parents change their minds.
“We want to motivate the parents to get their kids vaccinated,” he said.
Cash for jabs
Across the country, health officials have been raffling off television sets, computers and video games to help boost their vaccination rates.
In Harlingen, cold, hard cash has driven more than 200 residents, most between 18 and 50, to take their first shot of the vaccine, Ramirez said.
“It was a good steady flow, especially for those people who were on the fence,” he said, referring to residents who were holding out on taking the jab. “Most people who received the incentive said the incentive was the motivator.”
Boosting vaccination rate
Across Cameron County, the area boasts one of the state’s highest vaccination rates, with 83.1 percent of residents 12 and older fully vaccinated, according to the state health department.
On Wednesdays and Fridays, Ramirez is opening up his office to give residents the COVID-19 vaccine or its booster shot.
“We’re still pushing. We know our Census tracts are not accurate,” he said, noting many undocumented immigrants chose against filling out Census forms. “We know there are people out there.”
