[NFA] As U.S. political leaders grow increasingly desperate to persuade Americans to get the coronavirus vaccine, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Wednesday topped offers of baseball tickets and beer with a $1 million prize drawing.
This report produced by Yahaira Jacquez.
Getting vaccinated in Ohio now means you get a shot... at $1 million.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced on Wednesday that five residents in his state would win the money in once-a-week drawings for adults who have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
The money will come from federal pandemic relief funds.
Gov.
DeWine: "I know I'll be criticized, some will say well that's a waste.
What I think is a waste is when we have a vaccine that will save a life and someone still gets Covid and dies because they didn't get vaccinated.
That's what the waste is.
That is a tragic, tragic waste." The move by the Republican governor comes as U.S. political leaders grow increasingly desperate to persuade Americans to get the coronavirus vaccine.
Other offers in other states include baseball tickets, beer and in New Orleans, a pound of crawfish.
Gov.
De Blasio: "Did you say free fries when you get a vaccine?" In New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio promised free Shake Shack fries with proof of vaccinations.
As of Wednesday roughly 117 million Americans, which accounts for more than one-third of the U.S. population, had been fully inoculated, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But the pace of vaccinations - according to the CDC - has recently slowed due to ambivalence or skepticism about the vaccine.
The number of Americans seeking vaccinations dropped by a third in recent weeks.
