Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) offered cash to parents who vaccinated their children for COVID-19.
Children encouraged to be vaccinated were as young as five years old.
The program, called “Kids Deserve a Shot,” offered $200 to families who ensured their children between the ages of 5-11 were “fully vaccinated.”
Walz wrote on X at the time, “Big news: Starting this month, families who get their 5- to 11-year-olds vaccinated can get $200!”
“That’s cash in your pocket for starting the year off right by protecting your child from COVID.”
The incentive targeted the Omnicron variant of COVID-19, according to a press release. “As the Omicron variant causes record-breaking new cases across the nation, Governor Walz launched the next phase of the ‘Kids Deserve a Shot’ program to help boost vaccination rates among this eligible age group, which will help protect children against severe illness and hospitalizations,” it read.
Walz said at the time that “getting our children 5-11 years old vaccinated gives them critical protection against severe illness and hospitalization from COVID-19 and helps keep them in school. You’ll get $200 cash in your pocket for getting this easy vaccination done at the start of the year.”
Breitbart reported that another “Kids Deserve a Shot” campaign from 2021 targeted those between the ages of 12-17. The students were offered scholarships worth up to $100,000 if they were vaccinated.
