Notre Dame offering home game tickets to fans looking to get vaccinated

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Irish fans who haven't yet gotten their first dose of the COVID vaccine have been given another reason to roll up their sleeve: the chance to receive two tickets to a Notre Dame home game. 

According to Dr. Mark Fox, the deputy director of St. Joseph County's Department of Health, "a lot of the county remains unvaccinated,” estimating around 51% of eligible adults living in the county have been vaccinated against the Coronavirus-- still short of the nationwide goal of 70%. 

Now, to incentivize vaccinations-- the University of Notre Dame has stepped in with a proposition: "'What can Notre Dame do to help promote COVID vaccination and COVID-safe policies in the county?"'

Notre Dame will be giving out two physical home-gameday tickets to anyone receiving their first vaccine dose at the St. Joseph County-City Building.

The tickets are available for either the November 6 game against Navy or the November 20 game against Georgia Tech.

Notre Dame's campus has a vaccination rate of 95%, and Dr. Fox says that it might be one of the safest places to be in the fall.

“If we could mirror that kind of vaccination rate across the county- all sorts of the inconveniences and challenges that we face throughout the pandemic- those things all become a lot simpler when a greater proportion of the population is vaccinated," said Dr. Fox.

This offer, however, is only open to people getting their first vaccine dose, not their second or even a booster. Dr. Fox understands that this offer will not appeal to everyone, but knows and hopes that this will move some people to get vaccinated.

“I don’t expect that this will move the needle for people who are generally anti-vax or have specific concerns about the vaccine," he said. "But we know a lot of people in our community are in the ‘wait-and-see category, and this is just another one of those things that for somebody whose on the fence, the opportunity to go see the Fighting Irish play, may be just enough to get them over the goal line and get down here to get the COVID vaccine.”

The vaccine clinic at the County-City Building is open from 8:30am - 3:20pm on Monday-Friday and 8:30am - 11:20am on Saturdays. No appointments necessary. The offer is only available to individuals getting their first vaccine dose and while ticket supplies last.