Right, Dr. Mary Ann Spanos and Dana Corwin, both with the Chautauqua County Office for the Aging, speak at the county legislature’s Human Services Committee meeting, regarding a grant that would incentivize lower income people to get vaccinated against COVID and the flu.

County officials are eyeing a grant that will encourage people to get vaccinated, including offering gift cards.

During this week’s Human Services, and Audit and Control committee meetings, presentations were heard about accepting an Aging and Disability Vaccination Collaborative Funding grant. The grant is for $286,500 and would come from the federal government.

According to the resolution, the money would help get people vaccinated against COVID, flu, shingles and pneumonia.

County Office for the Aging Director Dr. Mary Ann Spanos said the money would be used to vaccinate about 2,500 people. Although there are no restrictions on who can get the vaccine, the money would be used to target people who are disabled or in the underserved/minority populations.

Spanos noted the money would not pay for vaccines but can be used instead for things like education and staff costs. “(It would) provide incentives to clients to get the vaccine, to partners out in the community to talk about vaccines and to really get good understanding among these underserved populations,” she said.

The grant also allows for financial bonuses for certain vaccinations. “The grant provides some financial bonuses to those who actually do go through and get their COVID vaccines or their flu vaccines,” said Dana Corwin with the Office for the Aging.

The bonuses could be $25. Spanos said they don’t want to give cash. “We are going to provide those in local gift cards, for places like Target, Tops, Walmart or Wegmans. That’s what we were thinking,” she said.

She did not want to offer Amazon gift cards, saying she wanted them to be used in Chautauqua County.

The grant does not give the financial bonuses for other vaccinations, like shingles or RSV.

Spanos acknowledged that some may question the financial motive. “You can say whatever you want about should we incentivize people to do the right thing, but I think at this point and time there are some people that would make a difference,” she said.

Those conversations occurred at the Human Services Committee meeting Wednesday night.

After hearing the conversation, county resident Ida Golden appeared at the Audit and Control Committee meeting Thursday to voice her objections about the gift cards. “Using coercion, targeting the needs of individuals is a total disregard for their dignity,” she said.

Golden also called the gift cards a waste of money. “We are a nation of $33 trillion in debt. By voting for a resolution such as this one, you are contributing to that debt,” she said.

During Thursday’s meeting, Spanos and Corwin were joined by Dr. Michael Faulk, interim public health director. He expressed support for the grant.

Faulk noted that the cost of healthcare is extremely expensive. “It is estimated that 4.9 million Americans every year will utilize a health care system in some way, whether it be an outpatient office, an emergency department or a hospital, to the tune of about $13.4 billion,” he said.

He said that studies have shown the pneumococcal vaccine for pneumonia have lowered the rate of hospitalizations and healthcare costs to taxpayers. The same is true for influenza and COVID. “These are three vaccinations that can prevent hospitalizations, prevent death, and lower healthcare costs,” he said.

He also believes the grant is well worth the investment. “While these initiatives do cost some money, our hope is that they save even more money when it comes to the healthcare expenditures across the country,” he said.

Both committees unanimously backed accepting the grant funds. The resolution now goes to the full legislature Wednesday night for final approval.