New Jersey gym owners offer free membership to those who don’t get COVID-19 vaccine

Owners of a New Jersey gym are offering free memberships to people who don’t get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Frank Trumbetti and Ian Smith, the owners of Atilis Gym in Bellmawr, N.J., on Tuesday continued to push back against pandemic mitigation efforts with their new offering.

“In light of @krispykreme giving free donuts for receiving the CVD shot, here at @TheAtilisGym we are giving out free memberships to all who don’t get vaccinated,” Smith wrote in a Tuesday tweet.

“We believe in health — the real way — exercise, good diet, plenty of Vitamin D, Zinc, and an environment to destress,” he continued. 

In light of @krispykreme giving free donuts for receiving the CVD shot, here at @TheAtilisGym we are giving out free memberships to all who don’t get vaccinated. We believe in health – the real way – exercise, good diet, plenty of Vitamin D, Zinc, and an environment to destress.

— Ian Smith (@iansmithfitness) March 23, 2021

Krispy Kreme announced Monday that anyone who could produce a valid COVID-19 vaccination card could get a free original glazed doughnut “anytime, any day, even every day — through the remainder of 2021.”

The owners of the New Jersey gym have made headlines multiple times throughout the pandemic challenging the government’s coronavirus regulations.

In August, a New Jersey borough council voted to rescind the gym’s business license over the brothers’ failure to comply with statewide mandates. The duo was also arrested in July for keeping their business open despite a state order that required the closure of indoor gyms.

“We all have the right to make a living. We all have the right to actually do what we want to do as Americans,” Trumbetti said during an August interview with CNN. “We are promised liberty. And they have actually put such oppressive restrictions on us that it’s just unacceptable to us.”

The news comes as public health experts continue to encourage Americans to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, warning that in order to achieve herd immunity, more than three-quarters of the population must be inoculated. 

Several states such as Texas and Mississippi have lifted coronavirus restrictions despite experts’ warnings that doing so may cause a surge amid vaccination efforts.

President Biden on Thursday upped his vaccine goal for his first 100 days in office from 100 million to 200 million doses administered.

“I know it’s ambitious, twice our original goal. But no other country in the world has even come close, not even close to what we are doing,” he said during his first press conference as president.