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When COVID vaccines first came out, many people were hesitant about getting the jab - many states in efforts to get individuals vaccinated started "vaccine lotteries", a lottery where states would offer a potential cash prize to get people vaccinated. Months later, it turns out those "vaccine lotteries" were not effective in increasing the rates of people getting vaccinated.
There were about 29 states in the United States that offered up to $5 million dollars for individuals to get vaccinated.
For some states, vaccination numbers did not go up - despite offering incentives to get the jab, a new study found.
Research from the Boston University School of Medicine shows that some prizes had no impact on the number of people getting the COVID jab.
About four weeks prior to any vaccine lottery being announced, states offering a lottery were vaccinating an average of 225 per 100,000 people with their first dose. After the announcement of a lottery, the rate of getting people vaccinated increased by 1.1 per 100,000 people. Then in the weeks following, numbers continued to drop.
States said that the lotteries were a success, but in the long run, months later, it seems that they were not as effective as they were believed to be.