Carney touts DE Wins business partnerships

Gov. John Carney visited with business owners in Milford June 25 to tout their involvement in the DE Wins vaccine incentive program.

The program, which ran through June 29, allowed those with proof of COVID-19 vaccination to be eligible for special offers. 

Among the businesses visited was Mispillion River Brewing, whose participation involved giving nearly half off the price of a case of Tangerine Mantis IPA and a free cooler bag to those who visited with proof of vaccination. 

Eric Williams, founder of Mispillion River Brewing, said, “This program was easy for us; let’s just go get vaccinated. We made a day out of it. We had fun with it. It’s important not just for our health, but for our industry.” 

Carney said the idea behind the program was twofold: helping businesses hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, primarily those reliant on social interaction indoors, such as bars, restaurants, gyms and nail salons, while also encouraging people to get vaccinated.

“We were intentional in providing additional resources from the federal government that we had some flexibility around in terms of helping them through, and now that we’re coming out, we have two goals: Get as many people vaccinated as possible, specifically 70 percent of adults by July 4, which was President Biden’s goal. We thought this was a great opportunity to help these businesses by giving them money to provide an incentive to get vaccinated,” he said. 

Carney said the state is close to reaching its goal, at about 69.4 percent rate statewide, giving about 800 shots per day.