Million-dollar lotteries as COVID-19 vaccine incentives spread to more states

First there were free Krispy Kreme donuts for vaccinated Americans. Then there were free beers. Now, more and more states are rolling out $1 million dollar cash lotteries as incentives for Americans to get vaccinated.

Ohio was the first to roll out its so-called "Vax-a-Million" campaign on May 13, which offered vaccinated adults a chance at one of five jackpots each totaling $1 million if they received at least their first dose. According to the state's Department of Health, the incentive was enough to quickly spark a 28% spike in vaccinations.

Other states across the country have been quick to adopt Ohio's lottery incentive and the other incentive that followed for non-adults: Ohioans aged 12 to 17 who received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine were also eligible to win one of five four-year full-ride scholarships at any Ohio state college or university. Similarly, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced this week that any state resident between 12 and 17 years old who gets a first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine starting on May 27 would be entered into a raffle to win a full scholarship to a New York public university.

Last week, Maryland and Oregon followed with lotteries of their own for vaccinated adults. This week, Colorado and New York put their money behind their vaccine pushes with their own lotteries as well, offering five $1 million prizes and even scratch-off tickets. On Thursday, California topped them all with a top prize of $1.5 million reserved for 10 lucky vaccinated Californians to be picked on June 15.

There are, of course, some who have criticized the lottery incentives. Ohio state Rep. Jena Powell (R-Ohio) came out against the campaign in an interview with CNN this week, claiming Ohioans don't need "gimmicky programs" to figure out what's best for them, and slammed the "Vax-a-Million" campaign as a "gross misuse of taxpayer dollars."

For what it's worth, Ohio's campaigns are both being paid for using federal dollars allocated to states to help fight the pandemic, which was signed off on by the Biden administration. But in the global scope of the pandemic, there is a question of if it's the best use of capital.

There is also somewhat of a stark contrast when you consider one of the world's most vaccinated countries using cash payouts to convince its population to get vaccinated all while health care workers are still dying at the hands of the virus in developing countries with ongoing outbreaks. As University of Alabama at Birmingham Associate Dean for Global Health Dr. Michael Saag highlighted on Yahoo Finance last week, there is more than just that humanitarian aspect behind wanting to use available funds to continue pushing global vaccine development and distribution on the part of the U.S.

"The number one reason, besides the humanitarian one where you don't want to see people dying unnecessarily elsewhere, is that every time there's these outbreaks, take for example India, we could see the emergence of variants and those variants ultimately could mutate to a point where the vaccines aren't as effective or effective at all," he said.

Other experts push back, noting that to get to herd immunity the U.S. still has a bit more to go, with only about half of all Americans now having received at least one dose. Japan, which is still slated to host the Olympics this year, just saw its vaccination rate top 6% this week.

Zack Guzman is an anchor for Yahoo Finance Live as well as a senior writer covering entrepreneurship, crypto, cannabis, startups, and breaking news at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @zGuz.

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