California has administered more than 40.7 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine thus far, but the number of residents getting vaccinated has declined, leading state leaders to introduce the $116.5 million Vax for the Win lottery and other incentives.
According to figures from the CDC, the Vax for the Win lottery and other state incentives seem to be encouraging residents to get vaccinated.
Figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that the number of weekly shots delivered jumped by 40,000 or 33 percent in the first week of June. They fell back a bit in the second week of the month but still ran well ahead of the average for May.
UC Berkeley health expert Dr. John Swartzberg said that money does work in getting more people vaccinated. But Swartzberg told KNX 1070 Newsradio that not everyone is happy about incentive programs.
“There’s been considerable criticism about incentives from a variety of perspectives,” he said. “Both the ethical perspective as well as the unfairness of them that ‘If I got my vaccine a long time ago, why should somebody who has put it off until now get their vaccine and get a present for it at the same time?’”
Gov. Gavin Newsom said it was time to offer incentives as a way to increase demand for vaccines. Vax for the Win is the largest vaccine incentive program in the nation. Anyone who has already received their vaccination is eligible and automatically enrolled in the raffle.