Here’s how you can now get $100 with your COVID vaccine shot around Charlotte

North Carolina is now giving people who are getting their first COVID-19 vaccine $100 at certain sites around the state.

That includes 12 locations in the greater Charlotte area, including at the Mecklenburg Northwest Health Department on Beatties Ford Road, at StarMed Healthcare’s Eastland site and at the Gaston County Health Department.

Anyone age 18 or older getting their first shot at one of those locations on certain days will get a $100 prepaid Mastercard.

Plus, the state will still give anyone who drives someone to their vaccination appointment a $25 prepaid Mastercard. And drivers can return for more than one visit — they get one $25 card per first-dose visit.

The new incentive follows other enticements, including an earlier offer of $25 and extra entries into the state’s million-dollar vaccine lottery.

The state’s million-dollar lottery is scheduled to end after its fourth drawing on Wednesday.

The million-dollar winners include a woman from Pineville, Natalie Everett, who found out on July 8 that she had won the second drawing.

Trends ‘in the wrong direction’

Last week, Gov. Roy Cooper urged North Carolinians to get vaccinated as soon as possible following a spike in COVID-19 cases due to the highly contagious delta variant.

His warning came after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a new recommendation asking even fully vaccinated people to wear masks in public spaces indoors.

And Cooper had a strong message for unvaccinated people.

1,000 pandemic deaths: How Mecklenburg reached a somber COVID milestone

“After months of low numbers, our trends are turning sharply in the wrong direction,” he said. “I want to be clear about why: Unvaccinated people are driving this resurgence and getting themselves and other people sick.”

Gift cards in Charlotte

Here’s where and when you can get $100 with the COVID-19 vaccines.

In Charlotte:

▪ July 14-Aug. 31 at 4001 Tuckaseegee Road

▪ Aug. 2-7, 9-14, 16-21, 23-28 and 30-31 at 2700 E Independence Blvd.

▪ Aug. 3 at 7300 Linda Lake Drive

▪ Aug. 7 at 8410 Bellhaven Blvd.

▪ Aug. 7 at 5108 Reagan Drive

▪ Aug. 12-18 at 2845 Beatties Ford Road

▪ Aug. 12-18 at 249 Billingsley Rd

▪ July 14-Aug. 31 at 5344 Central Ave.

In Gastonia:

▪ Aug. 4 at 2755 Union Road

▪ Aug. 5-11 at 991 W. Hudson Blvd.

In Concord:

▪ Aug. 2, 4, 9, 11, 16, 18, 23, 25 and 30 at 59 Chestnut Drive SW

In Kannapolis:

▪ Aug. 7, 14, 21 and 28 at 1100 Pine St.