Most of us know the obvious benefits of the health and relief that Covid-19 vaccines provide, but a growing number of small and large businesses are providing additional incentives for vaccination. Ranging from transportation to craft beer to pinball machines, these offers are only expected to become more common as people across the country wait their turn for the vaccine. For now, here’s a list of the best deals for vaccinated people right now.
- Free Krispy Kreme Donuts– We got a sweet surprise this month when Krispy Kreme Doughnuts announced they will give you a free donut if you show them an official Covid-19 vaccination card. Their delicious offer lasts for the rest of the year. While there is a limit of one per customer, there’s nothing to stop you from visiting more than location and stocking up on sweet, sugary goodness. In addition to handing out free donuts at all of their locations, Krispy Kreme donates coffee and donuts to vaccination centers and has provided 100,000s of free donuts to healthcare workers.
- Free Lamination From Staples – With all the use your vaccine card will likely get from daily trips for free donuts, you’ll probably want to ensure it stays safe. So nationwide office supplier, Staples, is offering free lamination for all Covid-19 vaccine cards. In minutes, Staples will happily laminate an official proof of vaccination for each of its customers. The offer lasts until May 1st, and all you have to do is show up with your vaccination card ready. As speculation arises that vaccine cards, or “vaccine passports” might become required for travel, a little lamination couldn’t possibly hurt.
- Cash Bonus or Paid Time Off – Grocery stores and restaurants across the country are encouraging employees to get vaccinated with both cash bonuses and paid time off. In addition to raising pay for all “non-management” employees by $4 an hour, Trader Joe’s is offering its employees two hours of paid time off to get the vaccine. If they require two shots, then that amounts for a total of 4 hours of paid time off, and that equates to a whole lot of their famous (or should I say infamous) two-buck chuck.
- Free Ride – With 45 percent of Americans lacking access to public transportation, Uber, Lyft, and several other transportation companies are offering free or discounted rides to and from vaccination centers. Partnering with Walgreens, Uber is offering 10 million free rides in cities like Atlanta, Chicago, and Houston. Lyft (not to be out-done) is promising 60 million free rides focused on “low-income, uninsured, at-risk communities,” according to NBC. Anyone who ever said “there’s no such thing as a free ride,” might wanna rethink their position.
- Local Arcades like Up-Down Kansas City out of Missouri, are offering discounts and in some cases free tokens to customers showing proof of vaccination. Up-Down for example states that anyone coming in 21 days after their final vaccination shot, will receive 20 free tokens with the proper vaccination card. The program called “Tokens for Pokens” is more than just a great pun. The offer lasts all summer long, so stop by for a few rounds of free pinball, arcade games, and classic skeeball.
6. Craft breweries certainly aren’t shying away from rewarding vaccinations either. Cleveland, Ohio’s Market Garden Brewery is offering discounted beer for vaccinated people. In a program they’re calling “Beer and the Shot,” the neighborhood brewery is offering a craft beer for the low price of 10 cents. The price is an homage to one of the wildest nights in sports history, Ten Cent Beer Night, where baseball fans wreaked havoc during a promotion where beer cost, you guessed it, ten cents. Market Garden Brewery is offering its 10 cent beer promotion to the first 2,021 people who show up with their Covid Vaccine Certification card.
