Free Stuff Covid-19 Vaccination Cards Can Get You, Like Krispy Kreme Doughnuts

Krispy Kreme wants to glaze over the fact that you got the Covid-19 vaccine.

On Monday, March 22, Krispy Kreme stores began offering a free “Original Glazed” doughnut to anyone who can present his or her Covid-19 Vaccination Record Card. In other words, if you can provide this proof that you got the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine or at least one dose of the Moderna or Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, you will be entitled to a free “ooooooohh”-shaped piece of fried dough slathered with gooey, ooey, glaze.

Now, as you wipe your drool off your chin and roll your tongue back into your mouth, keep in mind the details of this offer. Don’t try to add one more free doughnut to your typical online order of 15,873 doughnuts. This offer only holds if you show your card in person at one of their shops or drive-thrus. Also, don’t stop by at your local Krispy Kreme in Moscow, Russia and insist, “Я хочу свой бесплатный пончик Krispy Kreme.” The offer only applies for stores in the U.S.

Krispy Kreme stores will only accept the Covid-19 Vaccination Record Card as proof of getting the Covid-19 vaccine. A vaccine sticker, an app that says you got vaccinated and sells your data, an empty syringe, or simply saying, “I got vaccinated, and I want a doughnut,” won’t work. The Covid-19 Vaccination Record Card has to actually have your name on it too. A card with your friend’s name or The Weeknd on it won’t do, unless, of course, you are The Weeknd.

Now there is a limit to the number of doughnuts that you can get for free: no more than one “Original Glazed” doughnut per day. So, in theory, should you visit Krispy Kreme every single day for the rest of the year with the exception of holidays like National Eat Your Beans Day, you will only be able to get around 280 more free doughnuts in 2021.

Doughnuts aren’t the only the food that you may able to score with your Vaccination Card, depending on where you live or how far you are willing to drive. For example, if you are in Detroit or have a spare nine hours to drive from New York City to Detroit, you may be able to get 50% off your dining bill at the Oak & Reel. Melody Baetens described this restaurant for The Detroit News as a “new, seafood-forward Italian restaurant,” as opposed to a seafood-backward restaurant. Josh Noel detailed another example for the Chicago Tribune: a Chicago-based bar, the Village Tap, handing out $10 gift cards to the first thousand people who can show proof that they got the Covid-19 vaccine. And as Jim Kinney reported for MassLive, the Rumbleseat Bar & Grille in Chicopee, Massachusetts, is offering a 20% discount every Monday on food orders to those who can prove that they got vaccinated. These are probably not the only discounted munchies that you can get with you Vaccination Card, so check what your local food establishments may be offering.

Speaking of munchies, some marijuana joints are throwing their hats into the pot too. For example, according to Ashley Loose reporting for FOX13, you can get fee edibles from The Mint Dispensary in Phoenix, Arizona, by showing your vaccination card. This, of course, assumes that you are at least 21 years old and know what an edible is.

That’s not all. Uber and Lyft are offering free or discounted transport for those going to and from Covid-19 vaccination locations. Remember, though, that the vaccine is not perfect. You should still maintain social distancing (keeping six feet or 24 Krispy Kreme doughnuts apart from everyone else) and wear a face mask when riding any type of transit that’s not your car or visiting an indoor establishment, even after getting vaccinated.

All of these offers make sense as many businesses are hungry for customers to return. If you are vaccinated against Covid-19 and thus have protection against more severe Covid-19, you may be more likely to visit a food establishment or use an Uber or Lyft. Thus, offering something like free doughnuts may be a small investment for food establishments that could pay off in the long run. And there doesn’t seem to be too many holes in such a theory.