PENDLETON â Umatilla County organizations have the opportunity to receive funding if they assist COVID-19 vaccination efforts as part of a new program to drive up the countyâs dismal vaccination rates.
The county health department created the âCommunity Rewards Program,â which the county board of commissioners unanimously approved at its meeting Wednesday, June 2.
The program will work by ZIP code and will be available for not-for-profit organizations, including fraternal, civic and religious organizations, though specific criteria are in development, officials say. The county will be one of the first in the state to make such an effort using incentives, according to Commissioner John Shafer.