SOUTH THOMASTON — Devon Bowden always planned to get the vaccine – he just hasn’t gotten around to it yet.

The 21-year-old Rockland resident said he’s been procrastinating a little, but with South Thomaston now offering to pay non-vaccinated residents, non-resident employees, seasonal residents and other “frequent visitors” to town $200 to get fully vaccinated, the ‘Keag Store employee said he’s more likely to get it soon.

Bowden is exactly the kind of person South Thomaston Select Board Chair John Spear hopes to target with the new vaccine campaign approved by the select board Wednesday night – people not opposed to the vaccine, but who might need extra incentive to get the jab.

South Thomaston has a relatively high vaccination rate – about 78 percent, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Most residents have been willing to get the vaccine, and many expressed support for the incentive, but said that for those who are opposed, $200 isn’t likely to change any minds.

Devon Bowden of Rockland works at the ‘Keag Store in South Thomaston. He said he is more likely to get inoculated, now that South Thomaston is offering $200 to residents, seasonal visitors and workers who get fully vaccinated. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

The town will pay people $200 once they are fully vaccinated. The payments, which will come from the $160,000 the town expects to receive from the federal American Rescue Plan, will be for people who get vaccinated from Wednesday through Sept. 12. Proof of residency, employment or frequent visitation will be required, as will proof of vaccination. The incentives will be paid only after the town receives the funding.

“This idea is to protect our residents,” Spear said. People are coming into town, unvaccinated, and with the highly contagious delta variant, infection rates are picking back up. He doesn’t want to reward people for waiting to get the vaccine, but he said it’s important to do whatever it takes to slow the spread of COVID-19.

“I’m not a scientist, I’m not a medical person, but I am deathly afraid that if we don’t tamp this down … the virus, like any other living organism, is going to try to find a way to survive and will get around our vaccines,” he said.

HOPING OTHERS FOLLOW SUIT

South Thomaston is the first known Maine town to offer financial incentives for vaccines, according to the Maine Municipal Association, but Spear hopes others will follow suit.

Last week, President Biden called on state and local officials to offer residents $100 cash payments as an incentive to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, citing research from the University of California, Los Angeles, in which roughly one-third of unvaccinated individuals said a cash payment would make them more likely to get a shot, according to details of the plan released by the administration.

The Maine CDC applauded the town’s efforts.

“Maine CDC welcomes South Thomaston’s efforts to encourage COVID-19 vaccination, which remains our best route out of the pandemic,” spokesperson Robert Long said in a statement.

Spear said he considered a lottery like the one the state offered earlier this summer, but the more he looked into it, the more complicated it seemed. He wanted the process to be simple, quick and non-bureaucratic.

Spear said doubling the president’s suggested payment to $200 seemed like the common sense approach, and it was enough money to hopefully motivate people if they had to take time off work.

Cassie Fogg of Warren, who works at the Spruce Head Fishermen’s Co-Op in South Thomaston, said Wednesday that she doesn’t trust the vaccine and it’s unlikely anyone with firm opinions will change their minds for money. “They ought to stop giving away free money,” she said. “It’s ridiculous.” Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

But Cassie Fogg, a Warren resident who works at the Spruce Head Fisherman’s Co-op in South Thomaston, said there’s no amount of money the town could offer to convince her to get a vaccine.

“I don’t trust the vaccine,” she said. “In my opinion (the virus) is a hoax.”

DISTRUST RUNS DEEP

Fogg said it’s unlikely that anyone with firm opinions will change their minds for money.

“That’s why we work,” she said. “They ought to stop giving away free money. It’s ridiculous.”

Isabel Hamill, a South Thomaston resident and an employee at McLoon’s Lobster Shack, said $200 is a “nice amount,” but there are some people who just won’t budge. She’s already vaccinated, but said it was a good idea for people who haven’t done it yet.

Nick Crawford-Crudell of Owls Head serves a tray of food at McLoons Lobster Shack in South Thomaston, where he works. The town is offering $200 for residents, seasonal visitors and workers to get the COVID-19 vaccine between now and mid-September. Crawford-Crudell is ineligible for the incentive because he’s already vaccinated, but he supports the program. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

“I’m not sure if $200 is going to do it,” agreed Nick Crawford-Crudell, an Owls Head resident who also works at McLoon’s. “If they’ve just been putting it off, maybe. But a lot of people are just very against it.”

Hamill and Crawford-Crudell are both already vaccinated, but said they support the initiative if it helps more people get shots.

Bowden, the ‘Keag Store employee, isn’t opposed to the vaccine. In fact, he thinks people should do whatever it takes to end the pandemic, but he knows some are more afraid of the vaccine than the virus, in which case $200 might not be enough to sway them.

CAMPAIGN GAINS TRACTION

But Oliver Grierson, 16, of South Thomaston, is more optimistic that the incentive will have the desired effect. If that’s what it takes for people to get vaccinated, then it’s a good thing, he said.

He got his vaccine a few months ago, but knows that some parents won’t let their kids get the shot.

Oliver Grierson, 16, of South Thomaston stands outside the ice cream stand at McLoons Lobster Shack. Grierson, who is vaccinated, said that if it takes $200 for some people to get their shots, the town’s incentive is a good thing. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

“This might help that problem,” he said. “I think it would be enough. We shouldn’t pay people a fortune just to get two shots.”

Christy O’Callaghan-Leue, a property owner in town but a resident of Amsterdam, New York, supports anything that will help stop the pandemic.

She’s seen a lot of loved ones battle the virus and some who haven’t made it.

“Anything is fantastic,” she said.

Spear said the campaign has been gaining traction, even though he still has to post flyers around town or post a notice on the town website. The town administrator already has heard from a few people who want to sign up – and at least one person who said the idea seemed “backwards,” but Spear said he doesn’t care about the naysayers.

“If this moves four people to do it, I’m happy,” he said.

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