People getting vaccinated in five Eastern Kentucky counties can get a $100 gift card

People who get the COVID-19 vaccine at clinics in five Eastern Kentucky counties can get a $100 Visa gift card.

While supplies last, the cards will be given away June 14-18 at a different county health department clinic each day, according to a news release from the Kentucky Association of Health Plans.

The giveaway will be offered June 14 at the Lee County Health Department in Beattyville, June 15 at the Owsley County Health Department in Booneville, June 16 at the Breathitt County Health Department in Jackson, June 17 at the Magoffin County Health Department in Salyersville and June 18 at the Leslie County Health Department in Hyden.

The health plans association said walk-ins will be accepted, but appointments are encouraged.

The Kentucky Association of Health Plans, which represents health insurance companies operating in Kentucky, is offering the giveaway as a way to encourage people to get vaccinated for coronavirus.

“We’re trying to reach those that have been sitting on the fence,” Tom Stephens, executive director of the organization, said in the release Saturday. “This promotion will be raising awareness, which is half the battle.”

The association said it has used a variety of tactics to try to improve “vaccine access and acceptance,” including partnering with Kentucky Sports Radio for a traveling vaccine clinic that just concluded.

Health insurance companies have also used ”digital and radio ads, member incentives, coordinated transportation for plan members, pop-up clinics, homebound vaccination visits, text and email campaigns, yard signs, billboards, outbound calls to members prioritized by risk tier, personalized assistance from advocates with sign-ups and digital site navigation, letters, and follow-up on second dose appointments if a plan is alerted that a member has not received the second dose based on claims data” to get people vaccinated, the organization said.

The state is also offering Kentuckians who get the shot a chance to win one of three $1 million prizes and 15 full scholarships for children ages 12 to 17 who are vaccinated.

As of Friday, 2,106,464 Kentuckians, or 47 percent of the total population, had received the COVID-19 shot, according to state vaccination data. Of Kentucky’s adult population, 58 percent has been vaccinated.