Coloradans vaccinated at certain sites across the state will receive $100 Walmart gift cards starting Thursday, Gov. Jared Polis announced Wednesday.

Sixty-seven community college students will also win scholarships as part of the state’s latest push to improve its vaccination rate.

Both programs are the second effort to provide cash benefits and scholarships to nudge the “wait-and-see” crowd, as Polis has described the dwindling share of the state who are neither opposed nor enthusiastic about vaccinations, toward inoculation. 

Ten sites across Colorado will offer the gift cards to anyone who gets vaccinated there beginning Thursday, and the program will extend at least through Sunday.

Polis said families can get cards for each member who gets inoculated. Polis specifically shouted out Mesa County and other Western Slope areas that have been hit especially hard by the now-dominant delta variant, as being sites for the giveaways. 

As of Polis’ announcement early Wednesday afternoon, the list of sites on the state website included one Mesa County location, though the governor said more were forthcoming.

In addition to the gift cards, five students at each of Colorado’s 13 community college campuses will be selected to win $1,000 scholarships apiece. Two more students, chosen from the entire system, will win $5,000 each, said Joe Garcia, the chancellor of the state community college system.

The programs are trimmed down but more expansive versions of the incentive efforts launched in June that awarded $5 million in prizes to five adults and $50,000 scholarships to 25 middle and high school students.

The vaccination rate continued to lag despite those programs, but the state still hit President Joe Biden’s 70% target by July 4. The nation overall missed that benchmark. 

Though Polis initially touted the success of those programs in other states, he later said the goal was to keep vaccination rates level or at a modest decrease instead of a plummet. Asked about their efficacy Wednesday, he said he felt those two initial efforts “did meet expectations.”

The incentives, he said, are “not going to change anybody’s minds.” The goal is to reach those who have leaned on excuses not to get inoculated but are not expressly opposed, he said.

“What you will find is there are that 10% to 15% — and earlier in the contest it was like 20% — of folks who would say, ‘I’ll probably get it someday,'” the governor told reporters. “That’s who this is geared after.” 

As of Wednesday afternoon, 3.3 million residents have received at least one dose, and more than 3 million are fully inoculated. 

Polis said the push to vaccinate as much of the rest of the state as possible is “really a full-court press.”

Tara Trujillo, the campaign manager for the vaccine, said state leaders were still “flying high” after hitting the 70% mark by Independence Day. The state is now averaging 3,000 to 4,000 a day, she said, a far cry from the weeks of 50,000 daily doses.

But it’s a reflection, state officials have said, of the dwindling pool of people interested — or at least willing — to get vaccinated.

Trujillo said the state was running TV and newspaper spots, as well as ads on Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube and other social media platforms.

Colorado’s youngest residents have consistently lagged behind the rest of the pack in terms of vaccine uptake, though the youngest group — those between the ages of 11 and 17 — have only been eligible since late May.

Those in their 20s are also behind, matching a trend seen elsewhere. Many in that age group were also among the last to become eligible in April.

“It will be harder to get from 70% to 80%,” Polis said, “than it was to get from 0 to 70%.”

This article has been updated.

Boulder County

Caribou Room

55 Indian Peak Drive

Nederland, CO 80466

3pm-8pm

Arapahoe County

Walmart

10400 E. Colfax Avenue

Aurora, CO 80010

12pm-6pm

Alamosa County

Boyd Park

410 12th St.

Alamosa, CO 81101

9am-12pm

Hooper Junction Store

11704 Hwy 17

Hooper, CO 81136

1pm-4pm

Larimer County

Walmart Supercenter

1325 Denver Ave.

Loveland, CO 80537

Cañon City

Cañon City High School

1313 College Ave

Cañon City, CO 81212

Pueblo County

Barkman Library

1300 Jerry Murphy Rd.

Pueblo, CO 81001

1pm-6pm

Delta County

Walmart Supercenter

37 Stafford Ln.

Delta, CO 81416

Denver County

Chambers Shopping Center

4840 Chambers Rd.

Denver, CO 80239

12pm-7pm

St. Cajetan’s Church Community Center

4335 W. Byers Pl.

Denver, CO 80219

11am-8pm

Friday, July 23

Weld County

Walmart

3103 S. 23rd Ave.

Greeley, CO

1pm-8pm

Adams County

Mi Pueblo Market

6941 E. 80th Ave.

Commerce City

Gilpin County

Monarch Casino

488 Main St.

Black Hawk, CO 80422

5:30pm-10pm

Z Casino

101 Gregory St.

Black Hawk, CO

2-5pm

Alamosa County

Adams State University Student Union Building Parking Lot

208 Edgemont Blvd.,

Alamosa, CO 81101

1-7pm

Teller County

Farmer’s Market

Corner of W South Ave & N Center St

Woodland Park, CO 80863

8AM-1PM

Pueblo County

Rawlings Library

100 E Abriendo Ave.

Pueblo, CO 81004

1pm-6pm

Delta County

Walmart Supercenter

37 Stafford Ln.

Delta, CO 81416

Arapahoe County

La Plaza Parking Lot

15200 E. Colfax Avenue

Aurora CO 80011

1pm-7pm

Prowers County

Walmart

1432 E Olive St.

Lamar, CO 81052

2pm-7pm

Saturday, July 24

Weld County

Arts Picnic Lincoln Park

802 10th Avenue

Greeley, CO 80631

Arapahoe County

Beauty Supply Warehouse

13870 E. 6th Ave.

Aurora, CO 80011

9am-5pm

Routt County

Steamboat Rodeo

401 Howelsen Pkwy

Steamboat Springs, CO 80487

2pm-8pm

Costilla County

Santiago y Santa Ana Festival

Corner of 5th and Main Street

San Luis, Colorado 81152

10am-4pm

Logan County

Old Sykes Building

NE Public Health Dept

777 4th St

Sterling, CO 80751

10am-2pm

Teller County

Cripple Creek Medical Center

1101 County Rd 1

Cripple Creek, 80813

10am-4pm

Montrose County

Walmart Supercenter

16750 S. Townsend Ave

Montrose, CO 81401

Jefferson County

Khol’s

8444 S. Kipling Pkwy

Littleton, CO 80127

El Paso County

2354 S. Academy Blvd.

Colorado Springs, CO 80909

6pm-11pm

Denver County

United Church of Montbello

4879 Crown Blvd

Denver, CO 80239

11am-2pm

Adams County

Dayton Opportunity Center

1445 Dayton St.

Aurora, CO 80010

12pm-2pm

Sunday, July 25

Weld County

Arts Picnic Lincoln Park

802 10th Avenue

Greeley, CO 80631

9am-6pm

Arapahoe County

Latin Fashion Week Colorado

2430 South Havana St.

Aurora, CO 80014

Routt County

Steamboat Community Center

1605 Lincoln Ave

Steamboat Springs, CO 80487

9am-5pm

Huerfano County

La Veta High School

126 East Garland St

La Veta, CO 81055

9am-12pm

Huerfano County

Lathrop Park

70 CO Rd 502

Walsenburg, CO 81089

2pm-6pm

Morgan County

Brush Rodeo

228 W. Railroad Ave.

Ft. Morgan, CO 80701

El Paso County

Springs Rescue Missions

5 W. Las Vegas St.

Colorado Springs, CO 80903

2pm-6pm

Mesa County

St. Joe’s

230 N. 3rd St.

Grand Junction, CO 81501

9am-5pm

Adams County

H Mart

5036 W. 92nd Ave

Westminster, CO 80031

1pm-4:30pm

Denver County

Levitt Pavillion-Ruby Hill Park

1380 W. Florida Ave

Denver, CO 80223

5:30pm-10pm

Montrose County

16750 S Townsend Ave

Montrose, CO 81401

2pm-7pm

Adams County

Adelante Community Development Flea Market

7007 E. 88th Ave

Henderson, CO 80640

9am-3pm