Amid governments doing every bit to encourage people to get 'jabbed', the state of Washington has found a unique way to attract people -- by giving away free marijuana 'joint', among other incentives, to those getting vaccinated.
The state's liquor and cannabis board announced on Monday that state-licenced cannabis retailers will be allowed to give 'free joints' to adults upon their first or second vaccination at participating marijuana retailers.
The 'joint for jab' offer is one among many other incentives being given by various states in the US as the country registers record number of vaccinations. So far, only cannabis activist groups or local dispensaries used to run such offers to encourage people but now it's also a state programme.
Such programmes are being run by health authorities and several private organisations across the US in the wake of repeated warnings from scientists that as cases subside and more people get vaccinated, demand would wane and it'll become difficult to bring people to vaccination centres. Such campaigns are especially being run targeting the younger population.
Other incentives announced by the state of Washington include lottery prizes, sports tickets and game systems. Besides, officials in New Jersey and DC are also offering free beer for those getting vaccinated.
The Joe Biden administration is doing everything to get more people vaccinated ahead of the July 4th deadline. The US President had earlier promised to get 70 per cent of the US adults either fully or partially vaccinated by July 4.
The state of Washington has already vaccinated 58 per cent of the adults with at least one dose, while 49 per cent are fully vaccinated.
While more than a dozen states in the US have already achieved the target, many are still left behind. The daily vaccinations have also dropped about two third from mid-April when the average number was 3.3 million lately.
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