The United Way of Venango County now has 5,000 more ways to impact vaccine hesitancy in the county.
The agency received a private donation of $5,000 that is being used as an incentive to get more people to sign up for COVID-19 vaccines.
Will Price, executive director of the local agency, said residents who receive their vaccine at a United Way vaccination event in November will be entered into a drawing for a prize of $1,000.
Five winners will receive $1,000.
The organization also received some of the $4.3 million dollars made available through the Local Innovations in Vaccine Equity in Pennsylvania program (LIVE PA) statewide grant earlier this summer, said Price, allowing the agency to offer $10 gift cards in exchange for Oil Region area residents getting vaccinated at events set up through the United Way.
The grant was a partnership between the state’s Department of Human Services and regional United Way offices to provide education and reduce challenges to receiving the vaccine.
And that, said Price, is exactly what the organization is doing locally.
While everyone has their own comfort level with vaccines in general and COVID-19 vaccines in particular, said Price, the agency wants to make sure that residents have access to information and education about the vaccine, as well as to getting the shot itself.
“If transportation is an issue,” said Price, the United Way’s goal is to “make sure those vaccination events are centrally located.”
If people think they need to have insurance to get a vaccine, said Price, the events help there as well.
Most of all, said Price, “we want to do what we can to let people know that the vaccines are safe.”
The effort to increase the number of vaccines being received by local residents is “going well,” Price said. “We’re super busy.”
Price said the vaccine events have drawn a good mix of people who are getting their first and second doses of the vaccine, as well as some people getting their booster shots when they become eligible for them.
Other clinics are planned for 7:15 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 11, at Adagio Health; and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18, at 737 Elk St., in Franklin.
Anyone receiving the vaccine at any of the clinics will receive a $10 gift card, Price said. And everyone who’s vaccinated will be entered into the drawing automatically. “There’s no extra signup; you don’t have to do anything except get the vaccine,” said Price.
United Way clinics offer both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and are open to residents age 12 and older.
The United Way advises parents of children ages 5 to 12 to follow CDC recommendations and get vaccines from their pediatricians.
Appointments for the clinic events are not required, but are recommended, said Price. Appointments can be made by calling (814) 676-1811.
