DeKalb County offers $100 for residents willing to get vaccinated this weekend

STONECREST, Ga. — What would you do if you could get an extra $100 by just getting a COVID-19 vaccine? With cases in Georgia and throughout the U.S. skyrocketing, would $100 be worth it?

DeKalb County is trying to find out. This Saturday at the Mall of Stonecrest, the county is hosting their second vaccination event that will pay people $100 to get their COVID-19 vaccine.

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According to the county, roughly 47% of their residents have now been vaccinated. The first event they held on Aug. 14 drew over 1,000 people.

County CEO Michael Thurmond told Channel 2′s Kristen Holloway that his short term goal is to get the vaccination number up over 50%. Thurmond said he had no problem handing out incentives if it means getting shots in arms.

Holloway spoke to county resident Valencia Baptiste who says she’s totally on board with the incentive plan. Baptiste said she was fully vaccinated in April and hopes more people will get their shots.

“All the incentives that we can do will be the best thing for everyone,” Baptiste said. “We don’t want another shutdown. We want to have a good ending for 2021, so we need to push the vaccines as much as possible.”

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That’s why Thurmond said the county is holding this event. They have boxes of $100 pre-paid debit cards for anyone who comes out to the mall Saturday morning.

“We found that incentives work. At our last event we were able to vaccinate over 1,100 people,” Thurmond said. “We expect a much larger turn out tomorrow.”

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If you come to the mall looking for the event, it will be held outside the old Sears store from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday.

Patients will get their choice of getting either the Pfizer or the Moderna vaccine. The county said all anyone needs to do is drive up or walk up, no appointment is necessary.

You can also get a COVID-19 test there if you need one. Thurmond told Holloway he is expecting to see around 2,000 people this time.

“We just can’t sit by and let this virus infect and possible take the life of citizens who live here in the county,” Thurmond said.

15 schools across Clayton County closed because of surging COVID-19 cases All of students are learning virtually and kids in 3 of those schools will be back in classrooms next week.