Cook County Health to give 15,000 Six Flags tickets to those vaccinated Wednesday

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Daily File Illustration by Hank Yang

People who are vaccinated at a Cook County Health site Wednesday will receive a Six Flags ticket in return, while supplies last.

Max Lubbers, Assistant City Editor

Cook County Health will distribute up to 15,000 Six Flags Great America tickets to anyone who gets a COVID-19 vaccine at a CCH location on Wednesday. 

“With summer coming, if you have not gotten your COVID-19 vaccine, now is the time!” CCH Health said in a statement. 

CCH recently began offering the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to adolescents 12 and older earlier this month. Residents under 18 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or guardian to get vaccinated. 

Individuals can make appointments at vaccine.cookcountyil.gov or by calling (833) 308-1988 from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday. Walk-ins are also welcome, and the last walk-in will be accepted 30 minutes before each vaccination site’s closing time. 

Site locations can be found here. Hours and vaccines offered at sites are subject to change, the CCH statement said. 

Earlier this month, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced that Six Flags would donate 50,000 free tickets to newly vaccinated Illinois residents.

“Six Flags Great America is proud to support the state of Illinois vaccination efforts, especially in underrepresented communities,” Six Flags Great America Park President Hank Salemi said in a news release. “We’re getting back to the thrills and want to do our part to encourage residents to get vaccinated.”

A significant portion of these tickets will be distributed through local health departments, according to the news release.

On the first weekend of June, the state will send Illinois National Guard mobile vaccination teams to the Six Flags’s Gurnee, Illinois location, according to a state news release. If turnout is high, these teams will return on other days.

The distribution of Six Flags tickets come as local governments across the country try to incentivize people to get the COVID-19 vaccine, from Ohio’s Vax-a-Million lottery to a program in New Jersey that offers free beers to residents ages 21 and older. 

The Vaccine Corps Partnership will deploy some of these tickets as part of its hyperlocal vaccine education campaign, according to the news release. The VCP partners with community-led organizations and health departments primarily in Chicago and Cook County to help residents access and trust COVID-19 vaccines.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @maxlubbers

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