A shot for a beer: Doctor administers vaccine doses at bars
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PORTLAND, Oregon (KPTV) — A Portland doctor is doing everything she can to get doses of the COVID-19 vaccines into arms, and that’s meant giving shots at bars. It might seem quirky, but the doctor told FOX 12 that this a great way to reach people who haven’t yet been vaccinated.
On Wednesday, the line was out the door at Ecliptic Brewing in north Portland, to get a shot and a beer. Once a customer at the brewery got their dose, they were given a voucher to use on beer or food.
Ryan Estrada was at the brewery and called getting the dose “a win-win, probably the safest thing I’ve ever done for a free beer.” Matt Michael also got a shot and a beer. “It’s pretty cool supporting the cause, trying to better our society and keep people healthy,” he said.
Dr. Maureen Mays is the one making shots mobile and administering them at bars. Her goal is to reach younger people who haven’t made vaccination a priority yet. She said the idea is to have the shots available at more “convenient and relaxed” places and having the environment be that way is “is welcome to a lot of people.”
FOX 12 asked people in line at Ecliptic what the hold-up was on their decision to get the vaccine, and why they decided to get the shot on Wednesday. Michael replied “not really having a whole bunch of history seeing what was going on with people having the shot after a certain amount of time. Now that it’s been six months or so, I’m feeling a little bit more comfortable.”
Estrada said he already had a vaccine appointment scheduled for later this week but “figured why not today?” “I’ve also just been traveling to work and stuff, so haven’t been able to book an appointment for it,” he told FOX 12.
Dr. Mays said the shots at bars strategy is working and appealing to people like Michael and Estrada. “It’s absolutely key the people who wanted it pushed and get their vaccine, and now we’re in a place where there’s of course those people that for whatever reason are not getting vaccinated and they’re very hard to talk into it. But there’s a huge group I think we haven’t tapped that want to get vaccinated and just haven’t made the time, so yes, I think this is the place to do that,” she explained.
The doctor’s next vaccine event will be Thursday evening at Kelly’s Olympian in southwest Portland.
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