West Virginia vaccination raffle includes cash, pickup trucks
(The Center Square) – West Virginia will raffle large amounts of money, pickup trucks and other prizes for those who receive a COVID-19 vaccination, Gov. Jim Justice announced.
All West Virginians who have received the vaccine or do so in the near future will be eligible for the June 30 drawings. Justice did not specify the amount of money that made up the cash prizes, but he claimed they would make a few West Virginians millionaires.
The drawings also will include 10 Rocky Ridge Ford F-150 pickup trucks, college scholarships and other prizes that have yet to be announced.
“We want as many winners as we can possibly come up with,” Justice said Thursday during a news conference.
The governor did not say how much money the state will spend on the prizes, but he claimed higher vaccination rates will save the state money in the long run because it will cut down on hospitalization and testing costs.
A person will not need to be fully vaccinated to be eligible; rather he or she would need to have at least one dose of the vaccine. The governor did not provide a date by which a person will need to receive the vaccine to be eligible.
Justice intends to give more specifics about the drawings Tuesday, but he encouraged all West Virginians to get vaccinated to become eligible. The state is following the lead of Ohio, which is raffling $1 million prizes to those who receive the vaccine.
“We’re not going to let a state like Ohio get ahead of us,” Justice said. “… We’ll blow Ohio out of the water.”
West Virginia already has incentives in place for those ages 16 to 35 who receive the vaccine. A person in that age range who gets vaccinated will receive a $100 gift card or savings bond, whichever he or she chooses. The state has spent $2 million on these incentives.
Justice urged parents and grandparents to encourage people in that age range to get vaccinated.
As of the state’s most-recent update, 83.2% of West Virginians age 65 or older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 73.6% have been fully vaccinated. Of West Virginians age 12 or older, 57.5% have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 46.7% have been fully vaccinated.
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