Let’s hope Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison reads this. COVID-19 vaccination rates are falling in parts of the US and now Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has decided five people will get $1 million if they get the jab.
“I know that some may say, “DeWine, you’re crazy! This million-dollar drawing idea of yours is a waste of money.” But truly, the real waste at this point in the pandemic - when the vaccine is readily available to anyone who wants it – is a life lost to COVID-19,” Governor DeWine tweeted after a statewide televised address.
About 36 per cent of Ohio’s population has been fully vaccinated — compared with 35 per cent nationally — and from 26 May anyone who has had at least their first dose of the vaccine can enter a $1 million lottery, which will be drawn weekly for five weeks.
Governor DeWine is the latest to devise an idea to improve COVID-19 vaccination rates. Micro-breweries, loved by Australia’s Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, are also making news in the US, with several micro-breweries in Buffalo, New York, enlisted as “Shot and a Chaser” vaccination centres by Erie County Health Department with a free beer on tap to drown any pain.
“Here’s a good incentive,” Erie County CEO Mark Poloncarz told Buffalo News. “If this doesn’t work, I don’t know what will.”
We’ll raise a glass to that.
