$1M lottery prizes didn't boost COVID-19 vaccination rates in Ohio, study finds

Ohio's Vax-a-Million lottery, which awarded five $1 million prizes to vaccine recipients in May and June, did not increase adult vaccination rates, according to a study published July 2 in JAMA.

Researchers at Boston University analyzed CDC data on daily adult vaccination rates per 100,000 people before and after Ohio announced the lottery incentive May 12. 

Both Ohio and the U.S. saw a significant decline in vaccination rates before the May 12 announcement. In Ohio, this rate fell from 485 vaccinations per 100,000 on April 15 to 101 per 100,000 on June 9. Over the same time period, this figure decreased from 700 vaccinations per 100,000 to 97 in states without lottery incentives.

Adult vaccination rates did not significantly increase after the May 12 announcement, researchers found.

"In contrast, the analyses suggest that the rate of decline in vaccinations slowed to a greater extent in the U.S. than in Ohio after the May 12 lottery announcement," they said, suggesting that expanded vaccine eligibility for adolescents may have spurred an increase in adult vaccinations nationwide. 

"These results contrast with prior reports of increased vaccination uptake in Ohio, which did not account for the contemporaneous expansion in vaccine eligibility to adolescents," researchers wrote. 

The study may be limited by the accuracy of CDC's data and potential unmeasured factors associated with vaccination rates and the date of the vaccine lottery's announcement, they added. 

 

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