Covid-19 Vaccine Incentives And Free Offers In Kansas City

During the COVID-19 vaccination rollout, businesses and organizations across the United States implemented various incentive programs to encourage vaccination uptake. In Kansas City, as in many other cities, restaurants, bars, and community health initiatives offered freebies and promotional deals to individuals who could prove they had received COVID-19 vaccinations. These incentives ranged from food and beverages to game tokens, with some businesses specifically targeting vulnerable populations to increase access to vaccines.

Restaurant and Bar Promotions

Kansas City businesses joined the national trend of offering promotional deals to vaccinated customers. Among these initiatives, Westport Flea Market implemented a buy-one-get-one-free deal on its 5.5-ounce burgers for customers who presented their vaccine cards. This promotion aimed to reward those who had taken the step to get vaccinated while simultaneously encouraging hesitant individuals to do so.

The arcade bar chain Up-Down, which has locations in Kansas City, Missouri, and several other cities, launched a "Tokens for Poke'ns" rewards program. The initiative offered 20 free game tokens to anyone who showed a completed vaccine card to a bartender or server. This promotion applied to all Up-Down locations, including those in Kansas City, Oklahoma City, St. Louis, Minneapolis, and Milwaukee.

The Kansas City location of Up-Down required customers to have completed both doses of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine or a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The offer was valid for individuals who had already been vaccinated as well as for those newly vaccinated, who could bring in their cards up to three weeks after receiving their final shots. The promotion was scheduled to run through the end of summer, providing an extended period for customers to take advantage of the offer.

Market Garden Brewery in Cleveland implemented a similar promotion called "Beer and the Shot," offering 10-cent beers to the first 2,021 people who brought in their vaccine cards. While not based in Kansas City, this promotion exemplifies the type of creative incentives breweries and bars implemented during the vaccination period.

Community Health Initiatives

Beyond commercial establishments, Kansas City saw significant community health initiatives focused on increasing vaccination rates among vulnerable populations. The Jackson County Health Department partnered with Care Beyond the Boulevard (CBB), a non-profit organization that provides free medical care to Kansas City residents experiencing homelessness through their mobile clinics.

This collaboration addressed the unique barriers faced by homeless residents, including transportation and information challenges, which made accessing vaccines particularly difficult. Paige Kincaid, Regional COVID-19 Vaccination Coordinator for the Jackson County Health Department, recognized that crowded living conditions in shelters and lack of hand-washing facilities in homeless encampments made this population especially vulnerable to COVID-19 outbreaks.

Through this partnership, Care Beyond the Boulevard's mobile clinics provided over 1,000 COVID-19 vaccines to homeless residents in Jackson County. The regular presence of these mobile clinics in communities helped build trust and made it easier for clients to access healthcare services. According to Kincaid, "This partnership with Care Beyond the Boulevard has provided a suite of services to our most vulnerable population that would have never been available otherwise."

The collaboration also involved personnel from the Kansas City Fire Department and the Jackson County Health Department, who assisted with vaccine administration. This multi-agency approach helped ensure that the vaccines were administered efficiently and effectively to those who needed them most.

The CDC recommends COVID-19 vaccination for everyone aged 6 months and up, with additional recommendations for hepatitis A vaccination for people experiencing homelessness. These community initiatives aligned with these guidelines by specifically targeting high-risk populations who might otherwise face significant obstacles to accessing vaccines.

National Context of Vaccine Incentives

Kansas City's promotional offers were part of a broader national trend of businesses offering incentives to encourage COVID-19 vaccination. Krispy Kreme, for example, garnered significant attention by promising a free glazed doughnut every day for the rest of the year to anyone who presented a COVID vaccination card. This promotion, while not specific to Kansas City, exemplified the scale of incentives some companies were willing to offer.

Other national chains implemented their own creative promotions. Nathan's Famous handed out free hot dogs at its Coney Island location to anyone getting vaccinated on the same day. Super Duper Burgers offered free fries to vaccinated diners and volunteers at vaccine distribution centers. Uno Dos Tacos, part of the same parent company as Super Duper Burgers, provided free chips and salsa under a similar program.

A Chicago-based bar called Village Tap announced a promotion offering $10 gift cards, with a total value of up to $10,000, to customers who presented proof of vaccination. This demonstrated how some businesses structured their incentives to reward multiple customers while controlling their promotional costs.

In Phoenix, a marijuana dispensary offered a free edible to any customer who showed a vaccination card in March. Fortune magazine predicted that such freebies would become more popular as vaccines became more widely available, suggesting that businesses saw these promotions as both public health measures and marketing opportunities.

Research on Vaccine Incentive Effectiveness

Research studies have examined the effectiveness of various incentive programs on vaccination rates. A study published in Nature Human Behaviour investigated the impact of different types of incentives on COVID-19 vaccination uptake in rural villages. The research compared standard health messages, low cash incentives, and high cash incentives against a placebo.

The study found that 29.1% of participants received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, which closely matched the national rate at the time. The results showed that:

• 28.4% of individuals in the placebo arm received at least one dose
• 21.6% of individuals in the health message arm received at least one dose (a statistically significant decrease compared to placebo)
• 40.7% of individuals in the low cash arm received at least one dose (a statistically significant increase compared to placebo)
• 25.9% of individuals in the high cash treatment received at least one dose (no statistically significant difference compared to placebo)

These findings indicated that low cash financial incentives had a significant positive effect on vaccination uptake, while high cash incentives had no significant effect, and health messages alone actually decreased vaccination rates compared to no intervention. This research suggests that there may be an optimal level of incentive that maximizes participation without diminishing returns.

The study also examined vaccine intentions, finding that they were positively affected by cash treatments. This suggests that incentives not only influenced actual vaccination behavior but also shaped attitudes toward vaccination.

Implementation and Considerations for Vaccine Incentive Programs

Businesses and organizations implementing vaccine incentive programs needed to consider several factors to ensure their effectiveness and compliance with public health guidelines. For restaurants and bars like those in Kansas City, verifying vaccination status required establishing clear protocols for accepting proof of vaccination.

Many establishments chose to accept physical vaccine cards, though some businesses like Super Duper Burgers opted to accept photos from social media showing individuals at vaccine locations. This alternative approach aimed to reduce potential fraud while maintaining accessibility.

Timing considerations were also important. Some promotions, like the one at Village Tap, offered incentives on the same day as vaccination, while others like Up-Down's tokens program allowed individuals to redeem their incentives after completing their vaccination series. The latter approach accommodated individuals who had already been vaccinated while encouraging those who had not yet done so.

Businesses also needed to balance promotional goals with operational realities. Market Garden Brewery's "Beer and the Shot" promotion, for example, was limited to the first 2,021 people, suggesting that the business wanted to create buzz while controlling the cost of the promotion. Similarly, Village Tap's $10,000 total value for gift cards represented a calculated investment in community engagement.

For community health initiatives like the partnership between Jackson County Health Department and Care Beyond the Boulevard, reaching vulnerable populations required addressing systemic barriers. The mobile clinic approach proved effective for homeless residents by bringing services directly to where people were living, rather than requiring them to travel to fixed vaccination sites.

Public health compliance remained a key consideration even for promotional businesses. Up-Down, for example, maintained requirements for customers to wear masks and maintain social distance despite offering incentives for vaccination, demonstrating that businesses could encourage vaccination while still adhering to safety protocols.

Conclusion

Kansas City's COVID-19 vaccine incentive programs reflected both national trends and local innovation in public health engagement. From restaurant promotions offering free food and beverages to community health initiatives targeting vulnerable populations, these programs played a role in increasing vaccination rates during the rollout. The partnership between the Jackson County Health Department and Care Beyond the Boulevard demonstrated how targeted approaches could reach populations facing significant barriers to healthcare access.

Research on incentive effectiveness suggests that while financial incentives can boost vaccination rates, there may be diminishing returns at higher incentive levels. For businesses considering similar promotions, the experiences of Kansas City establishments offer insights into implementation strategies, verification processes, and operational considerations.

As public health responses evolve, the lessons learned from these incentive programs may inform future initiatives aimed at encouraging preventive health behaviors. The combination of commercial promotions and community health partnerships implemented in Kansas City represents one approach to addressing public health challenges through collaborative, multi-sector engagement.

Sources

1. Restaurant Business Online - Restaurants Take a Stab at Vaccine Promotions
2. Jackson County Public Health - Partnership Brings Over 1000 Vaccines to At-Risk Homeless Residents
3. Des Moines Register - Up-Down Des Moines Arcade Bar Offers Free Game Tokens for COVID-19 Vaccine Incentive
4. Nature - Financial incentives increase COVID-19 vaccination uptake in rural India