The period following the initial release of COVID-19 vaccines in early 2021 saw a variety of entities, ranging from national corporations to local businesses and health organizations, implementing incentive programs to encourage vaccination. In the Kansas City area, these initiatives took several forms, including direct-to-consumer freebies from restaurants and bars, as well as logistical partnerships designed to reach vulnerable populations. These programs were often structured as limited-time offers, requiring proof of vaccination for redemption.
Restaurant and Bar Promotions
Several dining and entertainment establishments in Kansas City offered free food and game tokens to customers who presented proof of COVID-19 vaccination.
Krispy Kreme The doughnut chain made headlines for its national promotion, offering a free glazed doughnut every day for the remainder of the year to anyone presenting a COVID-19 vaccination card.
Westport Flea Market This Kansas City burger concept offered a "buy one, get one free" deal on its 5.5-ounce burgers for customers who showed a vaccine card.
Uno Dos Tacos Owned by the same parent company as Super Duper Burgers, this concept offered free chips and salsa under a program similar to the burger chain's. Rather than requiring customers to show vaccine cards directly, the chain asked participants to show a photo of themselves from social media taken at a vaccine location to qualify for the deal.
Market Garden Brewery Located in Cleveland, this brewery ran a "Beer and the Shot" promotion, offering a 10-cent beer to the first 2,021 people who brought in their vaccine cards. While based in Cleveland, this example illustrates the type of brewery incentives that appeared nationwide during this period.
Village Tap In Chicago, this establishment announced a promotion in January offering $10 gift cards, up to a total of $10,000 worth, to customers who presented proof of vaccination.
Super Duper Burgers This Bay Area concept gave away free fries to vaccinated diners and individuals who volunteered at vaccine distribution centers. Similar to Uno Dos Tacos, the chain did not require customers to show vaccine cards; instead, they were asked to show a photo of themselves from social media at a vaccine location to participate.
Entertainment and Gaming Incentives
Up-Down Des Moines Although based in Des Moines, Iowa, Up-Down is a multi-location arcade bar with a presence in Kansas City, Missouri. The company launched a "Tokens for Poke'ns" rewards program offering 20 free game tokens to anyone who showed a completed vaccine card to their bartender or server.
The promotion was designed to thank people for taking steps toward normalizing the restaurant industry and the country. The offer was valid for three weeks for those who had already received vaccinations and extended through the end of the summer for those newly vaccinated. Customers were required to have completed both shots for Moderna or Pfizer vaccines or one shot for Johnson & Johnson. The offer applied to all Up-Down locations, including Kansas City, Missouri.
Up-Down communications manager David Hayden stated that the idea came after receiving his first dose, noting that the vaccination experience felt anticlimactic and that he wanted to give people a chance to celebrate.
Public Health and Community Outreach
Jackson County Health Department and Care Beyond the Boulevard In Jackson County, which includes parts of Kansas City, the Health Department partnered with the non-profit Care Beyond the Boulevard (CBB) to address vaccination barriers among homeless populations. Paige Kincaid, Regional COVID-19 Vaccination Coordinator for the Jackson County Health Department, identified that homeless residents faced significant transportation and information barriers preventing them from accessing vaccines.
CBB utilizes mobile clinics to bring free medical care directly to Kansas City residents experiencing homelessness. Kincaid reached out to CBB in spring 2021 to inquire about providing COVID-19 vaccines to their clients. The partnership resulted in the administration of over 1,000 vaccines to this vulnerable population. The collaboration was cited as providing a suite of services to the most vulnerable population that would not have been available otherwise.
The CDC recommends that anyone experiencing homelessness get vaccinated against COVID-19, noting that crowded living conditions in shelters and lack of hand-washing facilities in camps allow viruses to rapidly spread.
Financial Incentive Studies
While not specific to Kansas City, a study published in Nature Medicine examined the effects of financial incentives on vaccination uptake in a six-district sample (Source 4). The study verified that 29.1% of the 3,075 participants received a COVID-19 vaccination. The results indicated:
- Placebo Arm: 28.4% of individuals were vaccinated (at least one dose).
- Health Message Arm: 21.6% of individuals were vaccinated (difference from placebo: -6.8; P = 0.003), suggesting health messages alone depressed uptake compared to placebo.
- Low Cash Arm: 40.7% of individuals were vaccinated (difference from placebo: 12.3; P < 0.0001), showing a significant positive effect.
- High Cash Arm: 25.9% of individuals were vaccinated (difference from placebo: -2.5; P = 0.27), showing no significant effect compared to placebo.
The study concluded that low cash financial incentives had a significant positive effect on vaccination uptake, while high cash incentives had no significant effect.
Other Incentives
Marijuana Dispensaries An unverified report mentioned a marijuana dispensary in Phoenix offering a free edible to customers who showed a vaccination card in March. This highlights the variety of businesses that utilized incentives, though this specific example is outside the Kansas City area.
Conclusion
The Kansas City area saw a diverse range of COVID-19 vaccine incentives. Local businesses like Westport Flea Market and multi-location chains such as Up-Down utilized free food and game tokens to encourage vaccination. Simultaneously, public health organizations addressed accessibility barriers through mobile clinics, successfully vaccinating over 1,000 homeless residents in Jackson County. While national studies suggested that low cash incentives were effective, local businesses primarily relied on product giveaways to promote vaccination uptake.