“As the governor said at the time, that well exceeded his expectations,” Tierney said.
Extracting just the 16- and 17 year-olds, he said there was a 72% increase in the first week of Vax-a-Million, and 15% in week 2 over the base week.
DeWine has talked about looking at additional incentives, but what those could be isn’t certain at this time, the governor’s spokesperson said. He said the administration met with behavioral economists and scientists who supported the Vax-a-Million idea, but he said those experts said not all are motivated by a big cash prize.
In Butler County, the Vax-a-Million program seemed to have worked well, at least at first.
The program was announced on May 12, and in the seven days prior to that announcement, less than 3,400 Butler County residents received the first dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or the single shot of the Johnson and Johnson shot. In the next two weeks (May 12 to May 18 and May 19 to May 25) more than 11,700 people received a dose of the novel coronavirus vaccine.
But in the two weeks since the last drawing on June 23, vaccination starts dropped nearly 40 percent in Butler County, according to the Ohio Department of Health data. Statewide, vaccination starts have dropped more than 36 percent over that same June 24 to July 7 timeframe, according to the state data.
Tierney said the governor’s office is “continuing to look at” other incentives, but wouldn’t say what those incentives could look like.
“We know we’re not where we want to be, just yet. We do know we want to make significant strides before the colder weather months hit us,” he said.
President Joe Biden wanted to have 70 percent of American adults inoculated with at least one dose by the July 4 holiday. As of Friday, 67.4% of adults have started the inoculation process. As of Friday, 48% of Ohioans have started the vaccination process with 44.9% completing the inoculation process.
Butler County’s three health departments had adopted an incentive program to encourage people to get the shot.
CareSource began distributing $50 gift cards in June across Butler County to encourage vaccination for those who receive health insurance from Medicaid.
The Butler County General Health District began Wednesday to distribute $20 gift cards to a variety of local Butler County restaurants. The gift cards were purchased through a private endowment fund from Interact for Health, said BCGHD Health Promotion Director Erin Smiley.
“Along with creating a safe space for people to ask questions and have their concerns addressed, offering a gift card could be the very thing on that particular day that encourages someone to get the shot,” she said.
Gift cards are for those who qualify when attending a Butler County pop-up clinic or its Walk-in-Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to noon at the Butler County Fairgrounds.
Middletown Health District Commissioner Jackie Phillips said Middletown will not be doing any new incentives at this time.
“We’re still seeing a slowing trend of interested people wanting vaccines, even with the $50 incentives that are being offered through CareSource,” she said.
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