Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday that children aged 5 to 11 may get a $100 voucher to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in New York City.
$100 Incentive for Vaccination
In a recently published article in The City, to be vaccinated, the children will need their parent or guardian's permission, and de Blasio warned that the jab might be painful. De Blasio stated in his daily briefing from City Hall that after it's finished, they'll get $100 in sweet money.
Vaccine recipients must submit an email address, to which a link will be provided with instructions on how to claim the $100 bonus after receiving their injections, according to de Blasio spokesperson Danielle Filson. This move is done to make sure that children will get vaccinated before they travel in the upcoming holidays.
Mayor de Blasio said that the pediatric cash-for-jabs scheme is already in place at city-run immunization clinics. Children will be able to receive the money after being vaccinated at pop-up facilities at all public elementary schools around the city starting next week, according to the mayor, according to a published article in Yahoo News.
Number of Vaccinated Persons in New York Has Increased
According to figures from the Health Department, approximately 74 percent of the city's whole population has gotten at least one dosage of vaccination as of Thursday afternoon. Based on the statistics, the adult population's rate is 87 percent.
Meanwhile, the city has been offering the $100 vaccination incentive to all other age groups for weeks. Municipal workers who are required to get vaccinated to work as of this week might receive $500 only for getting their life-saving vaccinations, according to a report published in Gothamist.
Vaccine aversion persists among certain groups, particularly public safety employees despite the lucrative compensation. According to City Hall records, just around 79 percent of FDNY firemen had had their shots as of Thursday.
Vaccination for Kids Might Begin Next Week
Beginning next week, every public school in the city that serves children in the targeted age range will host a dedicated vaccination day for those pupils, covering around 1,070 campuses over the course of the week by touching nearly 200 schools every day, according to the mayor.
Needless to say, parents should be present to offer verbal approval for their children to get the vaccine, whether at a school or a city-run location, according to the city, but de Blasio highlighted that parents and guardians may also give verbal consent over the phone, according to a report in MSN News.
Furthermore, despite the fact that millions of doses of the Pfizer vaccine have already been distributed across the nation ahead of the advisory, physicians in the city claim they have not been inundated with requests for appointments for children to acquire the vaccine.
Meanwhile, a letter from Uptown Pediatrics in Manhattan sent to families Wednesday states: "We do NOT yet have the vaccine in our office. We placed an order last week and are awaiting confirmation about when the vaccine will be delivered. We will NOT schedule appointments until we have it."
However, municipal Health Commissioner David Chokshi highlighted that parents may have their children vaccinated at a variety of locations.
