U.S. Tourist Destinations Offering Free Vaccines to Visitors: NYC, Alaska, Atlanta Braves Baseball
May 7, 2021 Jim Byers
Visit Times Square and get a free jab.
Visit Alaska and get a free jab.
Go to an Atlanta Braves game, for goodness sake, and get a free jab.
Canadians stand in line in the early morning cold for hours to get shots, or call around to pharmacies day after day to line up a needle. But all across the vaccine-rich United States, tourism authorities are coming up with creative ways to lure visitors with free COVID-19 inoculations.
The latest “fly and jab” offer comes from New York City, which says it hopes to provide free, one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccines to visitors who amble down to Times Square. Associated Press says the city wants to set up “vaccination vans” in the popular tourist destination, because, as the song says, “they say the vaccine shots are great, on Broadway.”
Mayor Bill De Blasio called the city’s idea “a positive message to tourists: `Come here. It’s safe, it’s a great place to be and we’re going to take care of you.”’
AP says the city needs state approval to vaccinate visitors and hopes to get an OK as soon as this weekend.
The governor of Alaska has said he hopes to have vaccination stations at Alaska airports that visitors could use as soon as June 1. Florida, meanwhile, seems to allow just about anyone who wants a jab to wander into a Sunshine State drug store and roll up their sleeve.
And here’s another one. AP also reports that the Atlanta Braves will be providing free COVID-19 vaccinations for fans at Truist Park during their Major League Baseball games today and Saturday against the Philadelphia Phillies.
The single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be available to those who are 18 and older, while the two-dose Pfizer vaccine will be provided to those who are 16 and 17. Each person who gets vaccinated is eligible to receive two free tickets to a future Braves game.
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