NYC Offers $100 Incentive For COVID Vaccine Booster Shots

NEW YORK CITY — A booster dose of coronavirus vaccine not only provides New Yorkers with increased protection against the omicron variant, it also can put $100 in their pockets.

Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday announced the city will offer a $100 incentive for people who get booster doses at city-run and SOMOS vaccination sites.

The incentive will be offered through Dec. 31, he said.

“It’s a limited time opportunity over these next days,” he said.

The city's new, albeit temporary, incentive comes amid increasing signs that booster doses could be necessary to provide protection against the omicron variant, which now accounts for 92 percent of cases in the New York City area and appears adept at causing breakthrough cases in vaccinated people.

A recent study found a third dose of Moderna provides a 37-fold increase in protective antibodies that fight against omicron, the New York Times reported.

Another laboratory study by Pfizer researchers showed a third dose of that vaccine increases those antibodies 25-fold, said Dave Chokshi, the city's health commissioner.

Chokshi said booster doses appear to keep vaccination up to date.

“While the evidence is still emerging, thus far it indicates that an additional dose of Pfizer or Moderna provides enhanced protection against both infection as well as disease related to omicron,” he said.

People who received the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine should get a booster shot of either Moderna or Pfizer two months after their last dose, Chokshi said.

“Simply put, if you haven’t gotten you booster dose, there is no better time than right now,” he said.

The omicron variant does appear to cause more mild infections, at least so far in New York City. But its extraordinarily high transmissibility could lead to more infections and thus more hospitalizations, officials worry.

The city is now averaging 200 COVID-related hospitalizations a day at a rate of 1.93 per 100,000 people, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

People can find vaccination sites by clicking here.