Perks of vaccination: Businesses are making it worth your while to fight the virus

The perks of vaccination

Businesses are making it worth your while to get vaccinated.

WASHINGTON - Earlier this week, Krispy Kreme tweeted, "show your vaccine card, get a free doughnut." People like Susan and Bob Meehan took them up on the offer.

"They said choose whichever one you want," Susan told FOX 5 Friday, standing outside of a Krispy Kreme location in Dupont Circle.

"I think it’s just one more tool to try to get people to get vaccinated," added Bob.

But some experts are split on whether vaccine perks are a good thing or not.

The issue is bigger than doughnuts. According to Fortune, businesses like Petco, Aldi, Dollar General, and Trader Joe’s are offering cold, hard cash to employees who get the vaccine. MarketWatch reports some cruise lines will require it. Meanwhile, if you want to travel to certain countries, proof of vaccination may be your ticket, per Travel and Leisure.

"What we’re seeing now is a different version of have’s and have not’s," explained Dr. Stephen Thomas, a University of Maryland Professor who also directs the Maryland Center for Health Equity. He said he’s against vaccine perks in part because of distribution inequity.

"It’s really another way of keeping people in and keeping certain people out," Thomas said. "If you’re vaccinated, you can get a Happy Meal, whatever it might be. I get it. But it is further dividing us as a people and as a community."

Others like Dr. Amesh Adalja disagree. He’s a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and explained that if businesses want to reward people for getting vaccinated, he’s all for it.

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"I think incentivizing, encouraging, whatever we can do to get people vaccinated is a good thing," Adalja said. "I don’t think that Krispy Kreme has anything to do with the inequities in the vaccine distribution. I think these are separate issues."

For the record, Krispy Kreme’s doughnut promotion is slated to run through the end of the year, meaning those who have yet to be vaccinated still have plenty of time to cash-in.