Long Beach, CA - From today, May 11, through Saturday, May 15, the City of Long Beach Health and Human Services Department is providing two general admission tickets to the Aquarium of the Pacific to anyone receiving their first COVID-19 vaccination as an incentive for eligible people to get vaccinated.

'While we have made tremendous strides in vaccinating 60% of eligible Long Beach residents and 96% of our seniors, we know that vaccine hesitancy for some is real,' said Mayor Robert Garcia. 'We are going to do everything we can to encourage folks to get vaccinated, and that includes incentives.'

From today through May 15, those who receive their first dose of Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine or their one and only dose of Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine through any City-run vaccination effort will be offered two tickets to the Aquarium of the Pacific. City-run vaccination effortswhere tickets will be provided include:

'Demand for the COVID-19 vaccine has slowed throughout the State of California and the U.S. in recent weeks, including in Long Beach,' said Long Beach Health and Human Services Director Kelly Colopy. 'While Long Beach continues to be a leading force in the vaccination rollout, having vaccinated well over 300,000 people throughout the city, we are committed to finding innovative solutions to increase the number of people getting vaccinated.'

The City continues to explore various incentives and strategies to encourage all eligible residents to protect themselves and their loved ones from COVID-19.

Those who are eligible can receive a vaccination without an appointment from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, for both drive-through and walk-up options at the Long Beach Convention Center. People interested in scheduling an appointment may still do so by visiting the State's vaccination portal, MyTurn.ca.gov, or by calling the CA COVID-19 Hotline at 833.422.4255.

As of May 10, there have been 53,107 COVID-19 cases in Long Beach and 932 people have died from the virus. More than 311,000 vaccines have been administered, which includes nearly 180,000 first doses and nearly 132,000 second doses. All vaccines are administered free of charge and have been provided directly by the federal government.

For the latest information on COVID-19, with details on all that the City of Long Beach is doing to keep our residents safe, visit longbeach.gov/COVID19 and follow @LongBeachCity on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.