Mayor John Cooper and the Metro Department of Health are offering two plane tickets in a raffle for their ‘Refer to Win!’ program. The raffle, which officially kicked off Monday, is offered for referring others to get the COVID vaccine.
Details about the contest are displayed at the Nashville.gov COVID-19 website.
“You can win a pair of free round-trip tickets from American Airlines by referring friends and family to get vaccinated,” the site explains.
In order to qualify to with tickets, someone who receives a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine may enter the name of the individual who encouraged them to get the shot.
As the newest grand prize in Nashville’s ‘Refer to Win’ vaccine campaign, the winning tickets are available to any one of over 300 destinations in 60 countries. Referral cards are available at Metro Public Health Department vaccination sites only. Vaccine recipients can write the name and contact information (either phone number or email address) for the person who encouraged them to get vaccinated. Referral cards are available to any Nashville resident receiving either their first, second or booster vaccine shot.
The contest will take place between November 8 through the 22, and the referral cards are only offered at the drive-thru vaccine clinic and local pop-up community vaccine sites. The winner will be determined by the number of referrals.
The tickets were donated by American Airlines. The company’s Senior Vice President of Global Government Affairs for American Airlines, Nate Gatten, said in a statement emailed to The Tennessee Star, “We know vaccines are key to beating COVID-19 and getting back to activities like visiting loved ones and traveling for leisure and business. Our team welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the great work happening at the local and federal level to defeat the pandemic.”
Some Nashville residents were skeptical about the offer. On Mayor John Cooper’s Twitter post about the contest, one user asked Cooper about the winners from the last vaccination contest.
The user told Cooper “Release the names of the prior winners! We have a right to know what our government spends money on and to whom it give[s] prizes!”
Another replied to Cooper saying “Yeah. Yeah like we actually believe that” and linked an audio clip from ScoopNashville where it was revealed that the winners from the August vaccination contest were not completely notified.
As of now in Davidson County, there are 1,972 active cases. There are currently 112 cases that have been hospitalized, and Davidson county has seen 1 percent of COVID cases that have resulted in death.
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Morgan Nicole Veysey is a reporter for The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow her on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected]
