Vaccine Lotteries

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

As of yesterday morning the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that 129,006,463 individuals, or 38.9% of the United States' population, have been fully vaccinated against COVID. - and that over 48% have had at least one dose of a two-dose regimen. Those numbers are somewhat misleading in that they represent the entire population of the United States, and, as of now, children under the age of twelve are not eligible to be vaccinated - so the rate of "eligible" people who have been vaccinated is obviously higher.  The CDC has reported that the rate of fully vaccinated people aged eighteen and over in the United States was recently at 48.8 percent.

The northeastern portion of the United States is leading the nation in COVID vaccinations.  The state of Maine is out in front with 51.82 percent of its population fully vaccinated.  The next four highest vaccinated states are Connecticut (50.9%), Vermont (50.84%), Massachusetts (49.77%), and Rhode Island (49.32%).  

The states with the lowest rates of COVID vaccinations are in the South.  Mississippi is the worst  at 26.47%, with the next four worst being Alabama (28.49%), Arkansas (30.07%) Louisiana (30.35%), and Georgia (30.48%).

Now, unfortunately, the big rush to get vaccinated has subsided, and the rates of vaccinations have slowed.  Governments at all levels have been increasing efforts to spread the word about the health risks associated with not getting immunized against COVID, and more people have been made eligible through the lowering of age limits.  Also, vaccines are being distributed to more inoculation sites.  Businesses have been encouraged to give people time off to get vaccinated, and some businesses (such as the cruise ship industry) are requiring that employees and customers be vaccinated.

But still the numbers are waning.

Several weeks ago the governor of Ohio announced that his state would have a million dollar lottery for people who have been fully vaccinated.  Each person who had gotten their shots would receive one entry into the lottery.  That was such a great idea that New York and Maryland quickly came on board with similar plans.  And now Oregon has also entered the COVID vaccination lottery program.  The governor there is proposing a lottery that will offer multiple prizes for those eighteen and over who get their COVID shots - prizes ranging from $10,000 to one million dollars.  And while Oregon doesn't allow lottery gambling for those under the age of eighteen, the state will offer college and trade school scholarships of $100,000 to several lucky vaccinated kids between the ages of twelve and eighteen.

So there are three good reasons that many people will have for getting vaccinated against COVID: 

 

• the shots will protect them and their loved ones from the ravages of a deadly disease;
• being vaccinated helps to protect society in general;  and,
• there is that all-American dream of winning the lottery!

Offering people a chance to strike it rich for doing what is in their own best interest - and the right thing - seems a bit like a bribe, but getting the country vaccinated and the world back to functioning normally is in the public interest, and if that requires pandering to a base instinct like greed in order to get the job done, well, so be it.  

Maybe we will be a more altruistic nation by the time the next pandemic rolls around!