Instacart Partners with the White House for “Get Vaxxed for Snacks” Initiative

published Jun 16, 2021
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Credit: Instacart

Instacart announced this morning that it will team up with the White House to launch a sweepstakes in which vaccinated Instacart customers nationwide will have a chance to win a summer of free snacks to enjoy with family and friends, with the goal of getting 70% of U.S. adults vaccinated by July 4. 

Customers can enter the Get Vaxxed for Snacks sweepstakes until June 30. On July 1, Instacart will draw 200 winners to receive a $500 gift card. 

“Over the last year, Instacart has been deeply committed to supporting the health and safety of customers, shoppers and employees throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and today is another important step we’re taking to encourage the communities we serve to get vaccinated,” said Apoorva Mehta, Founder & CEO of Instacart. “With the Get Vaxxed For Snacks program, we hope to offer customers one more reason to get vaccinated so we can collectively bring this pandemic to an end.”

In February, Instacart launched a COVID-19 Vaccine Stipend Program in which eligible shoppers and shift leads received a $25 payment to cover the time they’d have to take off to get the vaccine. The program has paid out almost $2 million to support shoppers who received the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the company.

At the time, many other grocery retailers offered financial incentives to employees like Aldi which gave employees four hours of paid time off to get the vaccine, and Trader Joe’s which offered two hours of pay for each dose received. 

Despite incentives to workers, vaccination rates in the U.S. were still lower than expected. As a result, President Biden set a goal in May of getting 70% of U.S. adults to receive the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by July 4. However, with only about 63% of adult Americans vaccinated as of June 2, the U.S. government has pushed companies to do more in assisting in vaccination efforts.

As a result, retailers have begun offering perks to customers like Instacart’s Get Vaxxed for Snacks program. In May, Kroger launched a $5 million giveaway program to customers who received the vaccine, and Meijer offered $10 coupons to customers who were inoculated regardless of provider. Albertsons and Target also offered coupons to customers who were vaccinated in their stores or at local health departments.