DeKalb County will host its latest COVID-19 vaccination event this weekend, offering those who receive shots $100 prepaid gift cards.
Anyone is welcome at the event scheduled for Saturday in Doraville. But it’s intended to focus on “the multicultural community along the Buford Highway corridor,” officials said.
Since August, the county has given out gift cards to more than 6,000 people who have gotten vaccinated on designated dates. Those events were held in predominantly Black areas of southern DeKalb.
“DeKalb County’s focus of providing $100 incentives for vaccinations is having a major impact on increasing the county’s vaccination rates,” DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond said in a news release. “Because of our partnership with DeKalb County Board of Health and Emory University and Emory Healthcare, DeKalb has improved the vaccination rates in communities that are experiencing high rates of vaccine hesitancy.”
Saturday’s event will start at 8 a.m. at the former K-Mart store at 5597 Buford Highway NE in Doraville. Anyone 12 and older will be able to choose from the Johnson & Johnson, Moderna or Pfizer vaccine.
Booster shots are also available for those 18 and older.
Participants can remain in the cars during the event but walk-ups are welcome.
Vaccines are free.
“The Latino community in DeKalb County is very grateful to CEO Thurmond for his leadership in providing COVID-19 vaccinations during the pandemic,” Victoria Chacon, founder of La Vision Newspaper, which has partnered with the county on a number of events, said in a news release.
Overall, about 54% of DeKalb County residents are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. About 47% of Hispanic and Latino residents have received at least one dose.
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