Officials giving out weather radios as incentive to get COVID-19 vaccine
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - Officials are hoping to encourage more people to get their vaccines at Orange County sites. As an incentive, they will be giving out something the FOX 35 Storm Team says everyone should have.
The Orange County Department of Emergency Management is giving away free weather alert radios to Orange County residents at five of the county’s COVID-19 vaccination sites through Sunday, May 23.
Participating vaccination sites include:
- Goldenrod Park
- Meadow Woods
- South Econ
- West Orange
Each site will give away 25 weather alert radios each day until Sunday on a first-come, first-served basis for Orange County residents only. People will have to show a valid driver’s license to receive a radio.
Tina Calderone was excited to receive her free weather alert radio after getting vaccinated at Barnett Park.
"I get a radio so when the lights go out I get to hear the news."
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James Crim said he chose to get vaccinated on Thursday so he could receive a free weather alert radio.
"I didn’t even realize hurricane season was coming until this, so now I’m going to start getting prepared."
Crim believes the incentives counties and businesses are offering are helping with vaccine hesitancy.
"I wasn’t planning on getting it anytime soon, but I think because they have been incentivizing it has caused me to want to get it today."
Local governments, states, and businesses across the country are offering COVID-19 vaccine incentives.
In Ohio, the governor said people who get the COVID vaccine will be entered into a lottery where five people will get to win one million dollars each. Krispy Kreme Doughnuts is offering a free doughnut to anyone who shows their vaccination card.
Port Canaveral recently handed out free Victory Casino cruise vouchers to the first 200 people who got vaccinated at a recent vaccination event.
WEATHER ALERTS: Download the FOX 35 Storm Team Weather app for live radar, severe weather alerts, and daily forecast reports on your phone
Health officials in Orange County said about 34-percent of the county’s population has been fully vaccinated, but they want to see more progress in vaccinating people under 18.
Dr. Raul Pino with the Florida Department of Health in Orange County said the county has only inoculated about 20,000 people in that category, which is a low number.
"Of course we just recently started with some of the ages and it will go up but, for example, for people between 12-15 years old, we have about 37,000 in that category. So these are numbers that need to continue to increase," said Dr. Raul Pino.
Make sure you download the FOX 35 Storm Team Weather App so you can be the first to know when severe weather strikes.