Meijer offers $10 incentive to college students for getting vaccinated

Meijer is looking to encourage college students to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

The retailer will provide college students with a $10 coupon off any purchase when they complete the vaccination process at a Meijer store. The move comes as an increasing number of colleges and universities have set COVID-19 vaccination mandates for its students, faculty and staff for the fall semester.

The $10 incentive program goes into effect August 9  and will run through Sept. 30. In order to take advantage of the offer, college students will need to have their first COVID-19 dose administered by Sept. 30 at a Meijer pharmacy. Once they have completed the vaccine series, the students will receive a coupon at the pharmacy, which is redeemable in store for 28 days.

"Returning to campus is a huge and exciting step toward normalcy following the pandemic that disrupted so much of our lives,” said Meijer president and CEO Rick Keyes. "But to continue on that path, we encourage everyone who is able to receive the vaccine to take this important step," Our pharmacy teams have dedicated themselves to keeping our communities safe, but there's more work to be done. We're hopeful this incentive makes a difference."

Meijer noted that it pharmacies have seen an uptick in COVID-19 vaccinations recently, with a nearly 20% increase in vaccines administered during the past three weeks.

In May, Meijer incentivized its customers with a coupon, following the completion of the vaccination process, regardless of the retailer they received it at. Meijer also provided its team members with a $100 bonus once they complete the vaccination process and show their vaccination cards.

Meijer began the rollout of its vaccine clinics in mid-January, after being named a Federal Retail Pharmacy Partner in the State of Michigan. Since then, the retailer has conducted thousands of in-store vaccine clinics, as well as community-based off-site clinics, throughout all six states in its Midwest footprint. 

[Read More: Meijer now offering COVID-19 vaccine at all its stores]

To date, Meijer has administered more than 1.7 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccination.

Based in Grand Rapids, Mich., Meijer operates 257 supercenters and grocery stores throughout Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin.