Skip to main content
As Oregon records its highest case counts and hospitalization numbers of the pandemic, the number of people getting shots in Multnomah County has increased substantially.
Last week, state figures show that 1,700 county residents got vaccinated on Aug. 24. By the end of the week, the seven-day average number of vaccinations was up to 1,363 per day, about 40% higher than when the county began offering cash-card incentives to unvaccinated residents.
County spokeswoman Julie Sullivan-Springhetti says federal money provided cash incentives that account for some of that increase.
“The numbers of people being vaccinated in both our health centers and our low-barrier community vaccine clinics for immigrant and Black, Indigenous and other people of color has increased substantially,” Sullivan-Springhetti says. “Prior to the incentives, we were seeing 250 people a week, and now we are vaccinating closer to 900 people a week.”
The county began handing out the incentives July 10: a $50 Visa cash card for a first shot of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, $100 for the second shot, $150 for the one-time Johnson & Johnson shot, and $50 for a vaccinated person who brings in somebody else for a shot.
“The county is focused on the hardest-to-reach people with the greatest barriers, including people with no insurance, no health care provider, those who are not being able to take paid time off work to get a shot, may need child care and or a ride to the clinic,” Sullivan-Springhetti says.
The county got $4.2 million in federal CARES Act money for vaccine parity and has given out $3.2 million so far.
Sullivan-Springhetti says there are some safeguards in place to discourage people from trying to accumulate money by getting multiple shots.
“We have no hard evidence that anyone has gamed the system, but we assume that can happen. To reduce the chances of that, when people come in, we check their information in the state’s Alert database. And they have to attest to their vaccine status with two different staff before they get the shot,” she says.
“If someone is bringing in a friend or family member to get vaccinated and wants to claim a gift card, they will need to show proof of their own full or part vaccination.”
The latest state figures show 77.4% of Multnomah County residents over 18 are vaccinated. That’s shy of the state’s goal of 80% but better than the statewide average of 72.2%