Get a COVID shot, get $100. Pastor hopes to reach Raleigh residents in need Saturday
The Rev. Phil Brickle knows that vaccine reluctance remains stubbornly high on Raleigh’s most desperate streets, where the pandemic hits the homeless population hard.
So this Saturday, he is bringing a new weapon in the fight against COVID-19, one he hopes will break through the unfounded fears: $100 apiece for each person to get vaccinated.
At his Fall Festival in Southeast Raleigh on Saturday, the president of Lost Sheep Ministies is offering prepaid Visa and MasterCards to any attendee who takes the shot. A bonus $25 also will go to anyone who provides a ride, and taking a COVID-19 test nets another $10.
“We’re thinking more about people’s health,” said Brickle, ticking off the most common excuses he hears. “We’re still seeing a lot of people who are reluctant. Some, they don’t know what’s in the shot, so they can’t really trust taking it. Then, you know, they’ve heard that people who have taken the shot people have gotten sick.”
Both state and federal health officials emphasize vaccines as the surest way to avoid getting COVID-19. But statewide, only 63% of eligible residents 12 and older are fully vaccinated.
Brickle isn’t the first to offer money as inducement.
Gov. Roy Cooper announced a series of $1 million vaccination lottery winners over the summer.
And Brickle has long handed out $20 bills to Raleigh’s homeless as pandemic aid. Those gestures came without any obligation. A $100 card could buy needed health and hygiene supplies, not to mention a tent.
“There’s still a great need out there,” he said. “There’s people unemployed, there’s people on the street who haven’t taken their shots. At the South Wilmington Street shelter, you don’t have to be vaccinated but you have to have a negative COVID test. So in that community, we don’t really know who’s vaccinated and who’s not. It’s a communal and transient group of folks, so we may never know who’s passing it on.”
The fall festival also offers health screenings, free food and 15 gospel bands. While Brickle hopes to reach Raleigh’s poorest, anyone is welcome and the deal applies to all. It runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Southeast Raleigh Table at 1950 New Bern Ave.
Brickle lost a close friend to COVID-19 — a man in his 50s who spent three months hospitalized after refusing to get vaccinated. Brickle also nearly lost his brother in his native New York in the pandemic’s early days. So he isn’t worried about whether people take the shot for health or financial reasons.
“I’m just incredibly concerned and truly would love to see as many people come out,” he said. “I know people could use the money.”
This story was originally published October 12, 2021 at 1:40 PM with the headline "Get a COVID shot, get $100. Pastor hopes to reach Raleigh residents in need Saturday."