More Vaccine Incentives Possible

Gov. Mike DeWine took a victory lap of sorts Thursday as his Vax-A-Million giveaway program came to a close. Over a five week period five $1 million cash prizes were awarded to people whose names were drawn at random. To qualify for the drawing people had to be at least partially vaccinated and sign up on the state’s Vax-A-Million website. Also, five full college scholarships were given away.

The goal of the giveaway program was to promote more vaccinations in the state. “Vax-A-Million has been a complete success,” DeWine said at the start of his press briefing Thursday. DeWine pointed to the increase in vaccinations in week one and two of the program, although the vaccination numbers leveled off in weeks three, four and five.

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Some state lawmakers disagree with DeWine on the merits of the program, calling it a waste of money. Rep. Jena Powell, R- Arcanum said the money, which came to Ohio from Washington D.C. in the form of federal COVID-relief funding, would have been better spent on something else.

With Vax-A-Million complete, the question before DeWine was, will there be another round of incentives from the state?

“We certainly have talked about doing something in addition, maybe something a little differently. We’ve talked to some people in the private sector to see what they might be willing to do. We don’t have anything to announce yet today. I think that we may come forward with something and stay tuned,” DeWine said.

Earlier this week the Ohio Association of Health Plans, which includes CareSource of Dayton, announced member companies will be offering $50 gift cards to people on Medicaid who get the vaccine. The briefing Thursday marked what may be the end of a massive number of press conferences by DeWine on the state’s handling of the coronavirus. When the COVID crisis first hit, DeWine gave briefings daily that were broadcast statewide. He held an estimated 200 briefings over the last 15 months, often lasting 90 minutes, making DeWine the most televised Governor in Ohio history.

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Any additional information, DeWine said, would still be announced, but on an as-need basis, not at regularly scheduled events. His focus now is encouraging unvaccinated people to give it another look and to consider getting the shot. Mass vaccination sites that were once the state’s biggest push at one point are now shutting down statewide. The future, said DeWine, will be vaccinations in doctor’s offices and county health agency clinics. He made yet another pitch for young people to get vaccinated, since their age group has the lowest participation rate. Data from the Ohio Department of Health indicates Ohioans age 20 to 29 are only 34.81 fully vaccinated. Every other age group is much higher. The highest is people age 70-74 years old, with 80.48 percent.

DeWine cautioned that while the number of coronavirus cases is down dramatically the number of deaths from it are still at 100 per week.

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