North Carolina vaccine lottery winner, Shelly Wyramon of Winston-Salem, speaks after Gov. Roy Cooper announced the first winners of the Summer Cash Drawing and Summer Cash 4 College Drawing at the Monday, June. 28, 2021 at the NC Emergency Operations Center in Raleigh. A report released on Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, found that small financial rewards in North Carolina increased some residents’ willingness to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Less successful, however, was a $4.5 million statewide lottery program. (Travis Long/The News & Observer via AP)
RALEIGH, N.C. — What works and what doesn’t when it comes to encouraging people to get vaccinated against COVID-19? A new study in North Carolina shows that offering $25 to people getting their first shot was an important factor.
Less successful, however, was the state’s rollout of a $4.5 million lottery package that ultimately went to just eight winners.
The report was released Monday by researchers with the state Department of Health and Human Services, North Carolina Central University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
They looked at a state pilot program offering prepaid cards worth $25 to people in four counties.