If you love cash, free food and beer, or a chance at Super Bowl tickets, you’re in luck. Here’s everything you can potentially score for free (alongside immunity against a deadly virus).
Free Money
Cold hard cash can be a pretty big enticement—and you may be able to score some. Many companies are offering paid time off or a cash bonus (up to $500) for their employees who get the COVID vaccine. If you’re a state employee in Maryland, you’re entitled to $100 for getting the shot. And in West Virginia, the governor is planning to offer $100 savings bonds to anyone who gets the vaccine. If none of the above apply, see if the CVS pharmacy at your local Target is offering the shot—if you get the vaccine there, Target will give you a $5 gift card toward your Target run. If you post your vaccine pic to Instagram and tag it with #DropCovid and @JoinDrop, you’ll score $50 in credit for this e-commerce site.
Free Fun
We’ve all been missing sporting events, concerts, and more, and now you can access some of that for free—but only with proof of vaccination. New Yorkers who get their Johnson & Johnson shot when they go to Citi Field or Yankee Stadium will get a free ticket to a future game. In California, Everyday California is offering free surfboard, paddleboard, or snorkel rentals for people who show their vaccine card. And Chicago will be offering a series of free outdoor concerts every month, but only for people who have been vaccinated. Love museums? New Yorkers who get their shots at the vaccine site in the American Natural History Museum get a free pass for four people to come back to see the exhibits. Illinois is offering free admission to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield to people with proof of vaccination through the end of June. And the NFL will be giving away 50 tickets to the 2022 Super Bowl to people who get vaccinated (you’ll have to watch Global Citizen’s VAX Live: The Concert to Reunite the World this Saturday on ABC to find out how to enter).
Free Drinks
Raise a glass (or two) on the house in honor of the end of quarantine. Budweiser is treating you to a beer if you’ve gotten at least one dose of the COVID vaccine before May 16 (register here to score the free beer). New Jersey’s Shot and a Beer program offers you a free drink from one of more than 30 microbreweries around the state if you get your first shot in the month of May. Connecticut’s Drinks On Us campaign lets you score a free drink (alcoholic or nonalcoholic) from participating restaurants from May 19 through May 31, as long as you show proof of receiving at least one dose of a COVID vaccine and purchase food. On Fridays in New Orleans, you can score a bowl of Yakamein soup and a free shot as part of a “Shots for Shots” program.
Free Food
You can treat yourself to a lot of fun treats once you’ve gotten the jab. You’ve probably already heard that Krispy Kreme is giving out free doughnuts each day to people who show proof of vaccination—and it appears that you can redeem this once per day. White Castle’s Vax for Snacks program lets you get a free dessert on a stick (hello, fudge-dipped cheesecake on a stick) through May 31 with proof of vaccination. Brooklynites can score a free mini cheesecake from the legendary Junior’s Restaurant, and if you head to Coney Island on the day you receive your shot, a free Nathan’s Famous hot dog.
Other Goodies and Giveaways
Take a free ride in an Uber or Lyft—both companies are offering free or heavily discounted rides to and from vaccination sites. If you live in a state with legal marijuana, some dispensaries have been offering Pot for Shots programs, with free edibles or joints to help you deal with any vaccine side effects. (There will be some Joints for Jabs at the Queer Liberation March in late June in New York City, for example.) Washington DC is giving out plants and flowers to the first 51 people to get vaccinated at their drop-in sites on Saturday, May 8—or some cool temporary tattoos that say “Vaxed for Mom” or “Vaxed for Dad” if you miss the plant giveaway. In Illinois, if you get vaccinated at the World Shooting and Recreational Complex in Sparta on May 14 or 15, you’ll get 100 free shooting targets to use at their ranges. If you’re in Memphis and have the vaccine, you can enter your name in a raffle to win a new car—you can pick from a range of cars, including a Chevy Camaro and a Nissan Rogue.
