CDC Grant Program Spends $5,000 Per Shot to Convince Minorities to Get COVID-19 Vaccine

William Moody exits a PANDEMIC bus in a YMCA parking lot after receiving his COVID-19 vaccine booster shot on his way to work Feb. 9. Natasha Holt/The Epoch Times

GAINESVILLE, Fla.—Fleets of specially equipped, federally funded buses are rolling into targeted areas with the mission of convincing people to get the COVID-19 vaccine and giving the jabs on the spot to the newly persuaded.

Under a $6 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), teams in six states have worked since July to persuade visitors to the buses to take the COVID-19 vaccines. Their efforts have put 1,200 COVID-19 shots in arms, according to Catherine Striley of the University of Florida, who helps oversee the project.