Forsyth County out of $100 vaccine incentive cards on first day

FORSYTH COUNTY, N.C. — The Forsyth County Health Department ran out of the $100 cash cards given to people getting their first vaccine dose on the first day the incentive was offered.

Forsyth County started offering prepaid cards Wednesday. The health department said it ran out within hours. Health department officials said they will get more cards later this week.

Two hundred ninety-eight people got their first dose before all the cards were gone. The county is also offering $25 cards to people who drive others to get vaccinated.

The county health director said that the vaccine incentive seemed to work, but it wasn't the only reason people came.

"The gift card was nice, but they were saying 'Hey I'm hearing about delta, and I have family and friends who have gotten the vaccine and are doing well,'" Joshua Swift, Forsyth County Health Director said. "'And I have family and friends that have gotten COVID.'"

President Joe Biden urged states and local health departments to offer the vaccine incentive and businesses to give workers paid leave to those getting their shots last Thursday. The City of Greensboro announced last Friday that city workers would get eight days of paid time off to get vaccinated. 

RELATED: City of Greensboro offering 8 hrs. of paid vacation as vaccine incentive for workers

The state announced Tuesday they would offer the $100 vaccine cards. Counties across the Triad, such as Guilford and Randolph, have also said they would participate in the program. 

RELATED: NC will pay you $100 to get the COVID-19 vaccine, $25 if you drive someone

NCDHHS reported more than 3,4000 cases Wednesday. Just one month prior, only 453 cases were reported. The state also said they saw the largest one-day increase in hospitalizations since January.

"The sharp drive in our numbers is driven by the unvaccinated," Governor Roy Cooper said in a COVID-19 briefing Wednesday. 

50% of North Carolinians have at least one dose, and 47% are fully vaccinated, according to the state's COVID-19 vaccine dashboard. Cooper said Wednesday that the state saw a 42% increase in first shots over the past few weeks. In the first week of July, the state gave out 37,449 first doses compared to nearly 76,000 in the last week of the month.