How would you feel when you are given a chance to win a million dollars just by having a vaccine? For a few, it would feel nice. That’s what happened in the U.S. when President Joe Bidden stated that 70 percent of American adults should be partially vaccinated by July 4.
In response to this earlier this year, 19 states had launched lotteries. These lotteries should’ve encouraged people and boost the vaccination rate as this is a straightforward and by-luck chance to win a million dollars that would help them, especially now that everyone is in the middle of a pandemic. So after it was announced, did it work?
Nancy Gutierrez, 17, from Vista, Calif., is one of 30 winners who will receive $50,000 each in the state’s “Vax for the Win” lottery. (Photo: Sam Hodgson / San Diego Union-Tribune/ LA Times)
New Study Finds
A new study finds that the lotteries that were used by these states ended up making a minor impact on boosting the vaccination rate. The President’s target ended up being missed until August 3.
When the lottery was announced after two weeks, the researchers showed that it was only a quarter change of the expected daily vaccination.
According to USA TODAY, some public health experts say that while some are pumped up about this, most are not. Most of the unvaccinated people are not into small chances of winning, and they prioritize their safety concerns about the vaccine. Most don’t want their life to be disrupted by vaccine side effects.
Read Also: J&J COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Shot Receives Initial Authorization, Backed Up By FDA Panel
Gov. Larry Hogan announced that the Maryland Lottery will be awarding $2 million in prize money to Marylanders who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 during a press conference, May 20, 2021. (Photo: ABC News)
Made Little Impact
However, some states have stated that they saw the rise in the vaccination rate, particularly in Ohio. Stephanie McCloud, the director of the Ohio Department of Health, had said in a statement that the dramatic increase in the vaccination rate indicates that the ”Vax-a-Million” has been impactful throughout Ohio, as noted in the ABC News.
The researchers from Bently University in Waltham, Massachusetts, were the ones who made this study and noted that they have found that the lottery efforts only made little impact.
They said that there was only a slight change in the number of Americans receiving the first dose of COVID-19, two weeks after the lottery announcement.
The study was published on Friday in JAMA Health Forum, where it used publicly available vaccination data and found out that 0.3 daily primary doses of vaccination per 1,000 people were administered. And in order to reach the president’s target goal, there should have been as high as 1.22 daily primary dose vaccination per 1,000.
Read Related Article: 54-Year-Old Man Survives A Crash, Dies Right After Being Hit By Another Vehicle In Walnut California
