Over $116 million total up for grabs for vaccinated Californians

• California has announced a massive jackpot to encourage millions of Californians to get vaccinated.
• Gov. Gavin Newsom said that the rewards to be given will total $116.5 million — the largest pot of vaccine prize money in the country.
• The announcement came before the most populous US state fully reopens next month.

California will be giving away a total of $116.5 million to vaccinated residents — the largest pot of vaccine prize money in the country.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Thursday, “We’re putting aside more resources than any other state in America, and we’re making available the largest prizes of any state in America for those that seek to get vaccinated.”

The financial incentives aim to secure a vaccination rate of more than 70% before the most populous US state fully reopens on June 15.

Over 20 million Californians 12 and older who have received at least one dose of the vaccine are eligible for the prizes. Roughly 12 million more are eligible for the vaccine but haven’t gotten a dose yet.

The next 2 million people who start the vaccination process, including those at the school where Newsom spoke, will be given $50 gift cards either for general use or for specific grocery stores.

The governor hopes that all gift cards will be given out by June 15, which indicates that 2 million more people were vaccinated.

Starting June 4, drawings will pick 30 winners of $50,000 each. On opening day, a drawing will pick 10 winners of $1.5 million each — the largest single award offered by a state.

Newsom spokeswoman Amelia Matier said that the prize money will come from the state’s disaster response account, which will be reimbursed by federal coronavirus relief money.

The governor defended the expense by saying that the “cost of not getting vaccinated is exponentially, incalculably higher.”

Several states have offered incentives to boost vaccination rates, especially after Ohio announced its first winners of its “Vax-a-Million” program.

California’s program hopes to reach low-income communities.

However, nearly half of residents in the least advantaged neighborhoods still haven’t been vaccinated. Most are completely unaware of the incentives.

Epidemiologist Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo of the University of California, San Francisco, said that they might be unable to get time off work, live far from a vaccination site, or fear they’ll be charged for a shot.

She suggested lowering those barriers, adding, “We’re at a point in the pandemic where access should not be the issue.”

Source: Yahoo! News