COLUMBUS, Ohio — Aside from Ohio’s 'Vax-a-Million' lottery, employees at Claremont Retirement Village in Columbus have a chance of winning cash if they’ve been vaccinated.
"We're doing four drawings of $250,” said officer manager Tricia Lawhun.
Lawhun and Deborah Lacoboni said they saw first-hand the need to incentivize people to get vaccinated.
They started the lottery at Claremont before Gov. Mike DeWine announced 'Vax-a-Million'.
“People like that feel of the chance. The opportunity to win something,” said Lacoboni, an administrator at Claremont. “By doing it I think he got more people interested in it."
But is 'Vax-a-Million' working? The Ohio Department of Health says, yes.
According to a release Thursday since the announcement, there's been a 28% increase in vaccinations for Ohioans 16 and older.
However, Franklin County Public Health says it’s not seeing an increase like other areas of the state are seeing. To help get their numbers up, they've started offering clinics at new times at night and on Saturdays.
Meanwhile in Knox County, Deputy Health Commissioner Zach Green said it appears that they saw three times as many first doses this week than what they saw the first week of May. He said 'Vax-a-Million' likely contributed to that, along with two other factors.
“The other is the 12 and older coming online and the last thing is that June 2 date. People understand the mitigation efforts that we have been utilizing and been thankful for that's been holding up our community the last four months,” he said. “That's going away."
Knox County's health leaders are also utilizing mobile clinics in rural areas.
And shoppers will like this one: grocery chain Meijer will give away a $10 coupon when shoppers show they're vaccinated.