A central California cannabis dispensary is offering selected products for only one penny for any customer who shows a valid COVID-19 vaccine card as rates fall across the state.
The 7 Stars Holistic Healing Center in Contra Costa County – 40 miles west of Dan Francisco – started its promotion last week, reported the Los Angeles Times.
As of Thursday, the dispensary reports that more than 400 people have already taken advantage of the discount.
It comes as daily vaccination rates decline across the state and the country, falling by 54 percent in California and 75 percent in the U.S. – making it unlikely President Joe Biden will meet his goal to at least partially vaccinate 70 percent of adults by Independence Day.
7 Stars Holistic Healing Center is offering cannabis products for only one penny for customers who show proof they have been vaccinated
‘We wanted to offer our platform to help the state achieve their goal of immunity against COVID-19,’ Zee Handoush, executive director of 7 Stars Holistic Healing Center, said in a statement.
‘We saw other local businesses offering vaccine incentives, and we wanted to add cannabis to that growing list.’
The business said they are offering products in the $20 to $30 range for only $0.01 if proof of vaccination is shown.
Ben Grambergu, marketing director of the dispensary, believes the effort is already helping get more people in the community vaccinated.
‘It does seem to be moving the needle,’ he told the Times.
‘I think it actually is helping get some of these folks in the cannabis community.’
The dispensary joins a wider effort by private companies and state governments around the country offering incentives to Americans who get vaccinated.
Krispy Kreme was the first company to make national headlines with an incentive for Americans to vaccinated, in which it offered one free donut every day to anyone who showed proof of vaccination.
CVS Health later joined, holding a massive sweepstakes for anyone who got vaccinated at pharmacy locations, including cash, cruises and other trips.
Some state governments have offered vaccine lotteries, including California.
Last week, Gov Gavin Newsom drew the first winner of the state’s $50,00 vaccine lottery, which is eligible to all Californians who have received the shots
The efforts come as vaccine demand has fallen in recent weeks.
In The Golden State, health department data shows a 54 percent drop from 284,000 per day last month to 129,000 per day.
Across the U.S., more than 20 million vaccines were distributed in the first week of April, while only about five million doses have been given out in the past seven days, a drop in demand of 75 percent.
Despite the drop, California is currently outpacing the rest of the nation with its vaccine rollout.
About 56 percent of Californians have received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to official state data, compared to about 52 percent of the national population, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Contra Costa County is about even with the rest of the state, with 57 percent of the population having been vaccinated so far.
Case rates in Contra Costa County have sharply fallen since the reached their peak over winter
The county has largely controlled its COVID situation since a spike over winter as well.
More than 100 new cases in one day have nor been recorded since April, a success for a county that has over 1.1 million people.
Cases around the state have been on a steady decline as well, and the state is now averaging around 1,000 cases a day over the past week.