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The latest incentive to get vaccinated in Massachusetts: Free tickets to see The Weeknd, Enrique Iglesias, and more
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Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration is offering the chance to win free concert tickets to see The Weekend, Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin, and the Kiss 108 Jingle Ball as the latest incentive to get vaccinated on a new “VaxBus” that began traveling across Massachusetts this weekend.
Following the administration’s “VaxExpress” train, the two new bus-based mobile vaccination clinics — operated by Yankee Line — made their first stops Saturday, as they make their way east from Western Massachusetts to Cape Cod, stopping in 23 different communities through July 15.
The VaxBus schedule includes stops in communities that were hard hit by the pandemic and where vaccination rates are below the statewide average. More detailed information on the hours and locations of each of the stops can be found on the state’s VaxBus website.
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The buses will offer the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine to residents over the age of 18, as well as the two-dose Pfizer vaccine to those ages 12 and up (the buses will make a second round of trips July 17 to Aug. 5 for second doses).
No appointments are required for the free, on-board vaccinations.
As an added incentive, eligible residents who are vaccinated on the VaxBus will be entered in a giveaway to win TD Garden concert tickets to see Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin (Oct. 5), The Weeknd (Feb. 8, 2022), or the Kiss 108 Jingle Ball.
The initiative is the latest perk to boost vaccinations in Massachusetts, which recently surpassed the Baker administration’s goal of immunizing 4.1 million residents. Still, with vaccinations rates lagging in lower-income communities and among Black and Latino residents, the governor says they’ll continue to push to make shots more convenient — and enticing. The concert ticket giveaway comes after the Baker administration has offered everything from free iced coffee to grocery store gift cards to the chance to win $1 million.
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Massachusetts isn’t the first state to try offering concert tickets — perhaps a hot commodity after over a year of social distancing — as a perk to vaccine holdouts.
Connecticut recently announced the first two dozen people to get vaccinated at select clinics in the state would get a pair of free tickets for one of a number of different upcoming concerts, including Luke Bryan, Lil Baby, the Jonas Brothers, and Florida Georgia Line. And in Chicago, officials made 1,200 free one-day Lollapalooza passes available to people who made appointments this past weekend at one of the city’s vaccination sites.
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