Gavin Newsom Announces Taco Bell Giveaway to Vaccinated Californians

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced Friday that Taco Bell will be giving away free tacos to residents who are vaccinated.

In addition, he announced, Chipotle restaurants will be offering “FREE QUESO,” while various California sports teams will be offering discounts as an incentive to encourage more locals to take the coronavirus vaccine.

The June 15 date for the giveaway coincides with the state’s official reopening, as coronavirus restrictions will be lifted.

Taco Bell describes the “Doritos Taco Loco” as follows: “The Nacho Cheese Doritos® Locos Tacos is a crunchy taco shell made from Nacho Cheese Doritos® and is filled with seasoned beef, crispy lettuce, and shredded cheddar cheese.”

The taco giveaway is only the latest incentive that California has offered as an incentive for vaccination. Millions of the state’s residents — the most vulnerable, and the most eager — have already been vaccinated, but many remain reluctant.

According to the Los Angeles Times, as of Friday morning, 55.9% of Californians had received at least one vaccine dose. However, the number of daily doses has fallen sharply since the peak in April, and officials want to pick up the slack. The FDA’s temporary suspension of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine may have contributed to the slowdown.

Last month, Gov. Newsom announced a $1.5 million lottery prize to “10 lucky Californians” who took the vaccine. Other states, flush with federal stimulus cash and with few restrictions, have tried similar incentives to promote vaccination.

President Joe Biden set a goal of having 70% of Americans vaccinated by July 4, but the U.S. is unlikely to reach that.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

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