Despite missed target, Whitmer calls $5 million vaccine lottery ‘outstanding success’
(The Center Square) – Despite failing to reach her own goal, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called spending $5 million of taxpayer money on a COVID-19 vaccine lottery an “outstanding success.”
When announcing the lottery, Whitmer set one metric for success: boost Michigan’s vaccination rate by nine percentage points from 61.8% to break 70% by August 3.
As of August 20, Michigan has a 65% vaccination rate for those ages 16 and older, meaning Whitmer spent $5 million for what appears a 3.2 percentage point increase, depending on weekend injection numbers. Still, she celebrated.
“Thanks to every Michigander who got their shot, the MI Shot To Win Sweepstakes has been a success and we are continuing to make progress in keeping our families and communities safe,” Whitmer said in a statement. “But our work is not done. We are going to keep making efforts to reach people where they are, answer their questions and help them get their shots. If we work together, I know we can get this done and continue our economic jumpstart.”
Whitmer claims the sweepstakes boosted first doses administered, citing the following:
July 4-10: 28,000 first doses administeredJuly 11-17: 30,000 first doses administeredJuly 18-24: 35,000 first doses administeredJuly 25-30: 41,000 first doses administered
“The sweepstakes and news coverage helped spur conversations between families and friends about the sweepstakes,” Protect Michigan Commission Director Kerry Ebersole Singh said in a statement. “Several winners who were previously unvaccinated before the sweepstakes said they were inspired to get their vaccinations based on those discussions and the prizes they could win.”
The emergence of the delta variant and a higher number of unvaccinated people being hospitalized than those vaccinated could also be driving the increase in first-time vaccinations.
Michigan hospital data (slide 44) shows from January 15 through July 28, 97.6% of COVID-19 cases appeared in people not fully vaccinated. About 94.5% of hospitalizations in this period were people not fully vaccinated, and 95% of those who died from COVID-19 weren’t fully vaccinated.
Data also indicates the vaccine does reduce the chance of COVID-19 hospitalization and death. Of 4.6 million fully vaccinated people in Michigan, just .005% died from COVID-19 related causes.
A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study indicates unvaccinated people are 2.34 times more likely to be reinfected than those who are fully vaccinated.
At least eight Michigan colleges and several workplaces are mandating vaccinations, likely also boosting vaccination numbers.
Michigan mimicked its lottery after Ohio’s first-in-the-nation lottery, even after a Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) study published in the Journal of American Medical Association network concluded Ohio’s lottery failed since it didn’t account for expanded vaccine parameters for those ages 12-15.
“Our results suggest that state-based lotteries are of limited value in increasing vaccine uptake,” Allan J. Walkey, MD, senior author of the study and BUSM professor of medicine and physician, said in a statement. “Therefore, the resources devoted to vaccine lotteries may be more successfully invested in programs that target underlying reasons for vaccine hesitancy and low vaccine uptake.”
Disclaimer: This content is distributed by The Center Square