Minnesota is offering fishing licenses, West Virginia is giving away new pickup trucks, and Ohio — the first to offer cash for COVID vaccinations — is minting five new millionaires, but California has them all beat. On Thursday, Governor Gavin Newsom announced 10 people would win $1.5 million on June 15 as part of the Golden State's new $116.5 million vaccination incentive program.
Two-thirds of all adults in California have gotten a shot, but the past three weeks showed a steady decline, Newsom said. "We are mindful that if we continue down this path and trend, we're not going to get to where all of us need to be. And that is north of 70 percent of all eligible Californians getting administered doses of this life-saving vaccine, or to getting our kids back, in person, five days a week, for full instruction, to get our economy moving and humming across every sector and every industry."
The magic number has been 80 percent for herd immunity against COVID-19, and Newsom said his team recognized how hard it will be get beyond 70 percent and all the way to 80. "We can't afford to run the 90-yard dash," Newsom said. "We have to finish the job." COVID was not going to take Memorial Day weekend off, he added, and giving incentives to take the vaccine was "as wise a use of resources as we can identify." It doesn't hurt that the California budget surplus is an incredible $75 billion, which analysts attribute to the technology sector, its associated markets, and employees' ability to remain productive from home during the pandemic.