Ohio offering financial incentive including full ride scholarship for vaccination; also ending most health orders June 2nd

[Storygirl]

We just signed all of us up!

DS17 will not be going to college, so I thought we wouldn't register him, but it turns out that the scholarship can be used for community college or technical school, instead of a four-year university. So we put all of our names in, after all.

[kbutton]

Woohoo! It's working. 3/4 of us are signed up. DH is working, but I am sure he'll try again tomorrow.

[KSera]

On 5/16/2021 at 5:28 PM, ktgrok said:

I unfortunatlely know more anti covid vaccine folks than I'd like, and they fall into two camps. Either hard core Trump supporters who preach conservative values and guns and religion, or the everything organic, cure cancer with essential oils camp. Or, some are both, actually. 

 

I saw this today that shows the percentage of vaccine hesitant people falling into four categories (according to reason for hesitancy rather than demographics) and thought it was pretty interesting. You can look at the results by state:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/05/18/opinion/covid-19-vaccine-hesitancy.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

6 hours ago, Kassia said:

I think our odds of winning are pretty minimal!  

"At least 60,000 people called into the Ohio Department of Health’s call center and ohiovaxamillion.com was viewed more than 25 million times as of 4:30 p.m. Monday, according to the Ohio Department of Health."

I just saw this and thought of this thread 😂 

 

[frogger]

41 minutes ago, KSera said:

I saw this today that shows the percentage of vaccine hesitant people falling into four categories (according to reason for hesitancy rather than demographics) and thought it was pretty interesting. You can look at the results by state:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/05/18/opinion/covid-19-vaccine-hesitancy.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

I just saw this and thought of this thread 😂

 

What are the 4 kinds of people? I'm not subscribing to NYT currently.

[Corraleno]

14 minutes ago, frogger said:

What are the 4 kinds of people? I'm not subscribing to NYT currently.

The "Covid Skeptics" may be hard to reach, but it seems like the other three groups could be persuaded if their concerns were addressed.

Edited May 19, 2021 by Corraleno

[frogger]

Seems like if you targeted the cost anxious the watchful and distrustful might join in over time after they watched more people get it without issues.

[Faith-manor]

5 hours ago, Corraleno said:

The "Covid Skeptics" may be hard to reach, but it seems like the other three groups could be persuaded if their concerns were addressed.

For the 9%, I am going to get two things need to happen. Way better messaging about the vaccine itself being free. The state/feel will pay. You will not see a bill. And then radio, t.v., social media, the Kardashians, The View, Ads with whatever shows are really popular, billboards at Little League, just blitz and saturate that message, and maybe even encourage counties to do a mass postcard mailing with free postage paid for by emergency funds sent to each state.

Then there needs to be some emergency executive order. A. No employee can be fired for missing work to get the vaccine or recover from the immune response. Employers must pay the employee's wages for lost work but can recover this cost by filling out form x ,y z and sending it to the state treasurer for reimbursement, and then make that money available to the state. But throw a carrot out there that if the employer does not apply for the lost wage money, he/she/the company can take it as a charitable donation and not just as a deductible put straight up off their tax bill. That might really help small businesses. Then also encourage states to offer a lot of vaccine clinics on Fridays so employees have the weekend to recover. Oh, and mobile community vaccine vans so folks with transportation issues need not worry, just walk up and get 'er done.

However, I am no expert in these kinds o matters so this could be totally off base too, and a lot of wasted money too! This is just spitballing.

[PeterPan]

13 hours ago, Kassia said:

I think our odds of winning are pretty minimal!  

"At least 60,000 people called into the Ohio Department of Health’s call center and ohiovaxamillion.com was viewed more than 25 million times as of 4:30 p.m. Monday, according to the Ohio Department of Health."

On the other hand, it sounds like it's actually working, which means everyone is winning.

[PeterPan]

7 hours ago, KSera said:

I saw this today that shows the percentage of vaccine hesitant people falling into four categories (according to reason for hesitancy rather than demographics) and thought it was pretty interesting. You can look at the results by state:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/05/18/opinion/covid-19-vaccine-hesitancy.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

It seems like they missed the "just didn't get around to it" category. Who wants to admit that's the real reason?

Edited May 19, 2021 by PeterPan

[PeterPan]

6 hours ago, Corraleno said:

The "Covid Skeptics" may be hard to reach, but it seems like the other three groups could be persuaded if their concerns were addressed.

See to me, those are all the same people. When I talk with people who aren't doing the vaccines or who aren't masking, they're saying ALL those things. I think the NYT just didn't connect with enough demographics.

[SKL]

For people who can't afford to take off work for side effects, I wonder if their employers could be convinced to incentivize just the first Pfizer/Moderna.  Side effects from the first of two are usually mild, and supposedly the effectiveness of 1 Pfizer/Moderna is better than that of the J&J.  Upon receiving the 1st shot, folks could be given info on how to easily get their second shot 3-?? weeks later, at a time convenient to their work/life schedule.  There would still be people who wouldn't feel comfortable taking the 2nd shot, but the numbers would be better than they are now.

I also think they should make antibody tests "free," and offer them up front at mass vax sites or someplace convenient to workers.  They are really quick and can help inform the decision about whether to vax, whether to get 1 or 2 shots, etc.

[PeterPan]

37 minutes ago, SKL said:

For people who can't afford to take off work for side effects, I wonder if their employers could be convinced to incentivize just the first Pfizer/Moderna. 

Can't remember if it was here or elsewhere I read it, but there definitely are employers giving time off, paid time, etc. for getting and recovering from the shots. I think employers win when their staff are vaccinated and more well.

[ktgrok]

44 minutes ago, SKL said:

 

I also think they should make antibody tests "free," and offer them up front at mass vax sites or someplace convenient to workers.  They are really quick and can help inform the decision about whether to vax, whether to get 1 or 2 shots, etc.

I totally agree with this - we have no good info on how many people have antibodies but are not vaccinated, versus antibodies and vaccinated, etc. This could help - and you can incentivize it by giving a card similar to the vaccine card, with date on it - and places that want to require vaccination could accept that card instead, within 6 months or whatever. 

I know I'd feel a lot better if I knew that ok, only 40% have had at least one shot, but another 30% have antibodies. That would be good to know. 

[SKL]

17 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

Can't remember if it was here or elsewhere I read it, but there definitely are employers giving time off, paid time, etc. for getting and recovering from the shots. I think employers win when their staff are vaccinated and more well.

I agree.  If anything, the reluctance is that you don't want to get in trouble for meddling in employees' health stuff.

[KSera]

1 hour ago, PeterPan said:

It seems like they missed the "just didn't get around to it" category. Who wants to admit that's the real reason?

The wording of the question was, “When do you plan to get vaccinated” so that it was collecting people’s intentions, rather than actions. 
 

The full report is available without a paywall and with much more detail here: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5f7671d12c27e40b67ce4400/t/60a3d7b3301db14adb211911/1621350327260/FINAL+for+posting_Facebook+Survey+Summary+Document+for+Website.docx.pdf

 

[SKL]

51 minutes ago, KSera said:

The wording of the question was, “When do you plan to get vaccinated” so that it was collecting people’s intentions, rather than actions. 
 

The full report is available without a paywall and with much more detail here: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5f7671d12c27e40b67ce4400/t/60a3d7b3301db14adb211911/1621350327260/FINAL+for+posting_Facebook+Survey+Summary+Document+for+Website.docx.pdf

 

OK this is a facebook survey.  Say no more.  🙂

[frogger]

I agree voluntary Facebook surveys aren't great, the truth is phone surveys are voluntary too so it is going to be impossible to tell. People are individuals and have a myriad of reasons. I still think, regardless of numbers of people, that the easiest thing to solve is lowering the cost of obtaining a vaccine. 

[KSera]

49 minutes ago, SKL said:

OK this is a facebook survey.  Say no more.  🙂

Only the state level data came from Facebook. I wouldn’t want a FB survey used for collecting medical research, but I certainly don’t think it’s useless for collecting sociological data like this. There will be some selection bias, but I don’t see a reason to wave away the whole thing as irrelevant just because some of it was collected from people who responded via Facebook (and that’s coming from a FB hater). I think it’s useful for what it is. 

[vonfirmath]

3 hours ago, PeterPan said:

Can't remember if it was here or elsewhere I read it, but there definitely are employers giving time off, paid time, etc. for getting and recovering from the shots. I think employers win when their staff are vaccinated and more well.

We have a local restaurant that has been closed twice so that all their staff can go get their 1st and 2nd vax (and just closed early yesterday as their chief chef is struggling with vax side effects)

[KSera]

1 hour ago, vonfirmath said:

We have a local restaurant that has been closed twice so that all their staff can go get their 1st and 2nd vax (and just closed early yesterday as their chief chef is struggling with vax side effects)

I think that’s super smart in the long run. They’re less likely to have closures due to sick employees now and I’m certain I’m not the only one that would preference patronizing a restaurant that had done that. 

[vonfirmath]

4 hours ago, ktgrok said:

I totally agree with this - we have no good info on how many people have antibodies but are not vaccinated, versus antibodies and vaccinated, etc. This could help - and you can incentivize it by giving a card similar to the vaccine card, with date on it - and places that want to require vaccination could accept that card instead, within 6 months or whatever. 

I know I'd feel a lot better if I knew that ok, only 40% have had at least one shot, but another 30% have antibodies. That would be good to know. 

Will those vaccinated have antibodies? I thought not -- that it was more mobilizing the T-cell response so wasn't concerned I had none. But now I wonder. I've now given blood twice since I was fully vaccinated and still no antibodies showing up.

[teachermom2834]

Dh's employer is being careful not to apply any pressure to vaccinate but they did offer up to 8 hours to get the vaccine and 16 for post vaccine time off. Dh had already been vaccinated by the time this policy came out. He had used lunch time to get his shots but he was able to recover four hours of sick leave he took the day after his second shot when he was in and out of bed around meetings (he works from home so he could climb in and out of bed all day.) 

[Corraleno]

9 minutes ago, vonfirmath said:

Will those vaccinated have antibodies? I thought not -- that it was more mobilizing the T-cell response so wasn't concerned I had none. But now I wonder. I've now given blood twice since I was fully vaccinated and still no antibodies showing up.

The regular test looks for antibodies to the N protein, which indicates prior infection. To test for response to the vaccination, you need a test that specifically looks for antibodies to the S (spike) protein, since the vaccines don't contain the N protein. So the fact that you're negative for N protein antibodies just means you haven't recently had covid, it doesn't mean you didn't have a good response to the vaccine.

[Lucy the Valiant]

14 hours ago, Corraleno said:

The "Covid Skeptics" may be hard to reach, but it seems like the other three groups could be persuaded if their concerns were addressed.

I can't read the article, but did they take into account people who have already had covid? 

I personally know several people who have already had covid so are not planning to get a vaccine since immunity is the same from both infection and vaccination. (This category of people is not small - especially in my area - but is often ignored in the larger vaccine discussions.) 

[Terabith]

5 minutes ago, Lucy the Valiant said:

I can't read the article, but did they take into account people who have already had covid? 

I personally know several people who have already had covid so are not planning to get a vaccine since immunity is the same from both infection and vaccination. (This category of people is not small - especially in my area - but is often ignored in the larger vaccine discussions.) 

Except my understanding is that natural infection with original covid might not provide protection for any of the variants?

[Lucy the Valiant]

9 minutes ago, Terabith said:

Except my understanding is that natural infection with original covid might not provide protection for any of the variants?

Maybe there's more recent data than the April 26, 2021 study, but according to that (Israel) study, those with natural infection are not contracting covid at all - if they were susceptible to variants, that would have shown up on the study, right? 

 

Excerpt:

What were the efficacy results?

The overall estimated efficacy of vaccination was 92·8% for documented infection, 94.2% for hospitalization, 94.4% for severe illness and 93.7% for death.

Similarly, the overall estimated level of protection among individuals with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection was 94.% for documented infection, 94.1% for hospitalization and 96·4% for severe illness.

Since only one death occurred in the recovered cohort, protection against death following prior infection was not estimated.

[Terabith]

1 minute ago, Lucy the Valiant said:

Maybe there's more recent data than the April 26, 2021 study, but according to that (Israel) study, those with natural infection are not contracting covid at all - if they were susceptible to variants, that would have shown up on the study, right? 

 

Excerpt:

What were the efficacy results?

The overall estimated efficacy of vaccination was 92·8% for documented infection, 94.2% for hospitalization, 94.4% for severe illness and 93.7% for death.

Similarly, the overall estimated level of protection among individuals with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection was 94.% for documented infection, 94.1% for hospitalization and 96·4% for severe illness.

Since only one death occurred in the recovered cohort, protection against death following prior infection was not estimated.

That is promising!  My concerns were the cities in Brazil where they thought they'd reached herd immunity from previous infections but then everyone got it again?  

Honestly, I'm having trouble keeping up with the research.  I really hope natural immunity is as good as vaccination!  That would be awesome!

[Lucy the Valiant]

14 minutes ago, Terabith said:

That is promising!  My concerns were the cities in Brazil where they thought they'd reached herd immunity from previous infections but then everyone got it again?  

Honestly, I'm having trouble keeping up with the research.  I really hope natural immunity is as good as vaccination!  That would be awesome!

I'm struggling to keep up, too. I think the big question right now is timing - nobody truly knows how long immunity from the vaccine OR natural infection will last (people in my family have antibodies 10 months after infection, but I don't think that's universal). 

Are the vaccines holding against the Brazil variants? (I'm really slow reading the studies.)

[mom2scouts]

The State of Ohio is reporting that vaccination rates are up this week and they think the lottery is working. I'm not sure if it's entirely due to the lottery though. DD got hers yesterday, but she only became eligible last week and we would have done it anyway.

[Acadie]

19 minutes ago, mom2scouts said:

The State of Ohio is reporting that vaccination rates are up this week and they think the lottery is working. I'm not sure if it's entirely due to the lottery though. DD got hers yesterday, but she only became eligible last week and we would have done it anyway.

No doubt there's a spike due to the Pfizer approval for ages 12-15, but according to this Guardian article adult vaccinations ages 30-74 are up 6% in Ohio too.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/19/ohio-covid-vaccination-lottery-prize-million-dollar

[Corraleno]

1 hour ago, Lucy the Valiant said:

Maybe there's more recent data than the April 26, 2021 study, but according to that (Israel) study, those with natural infection are not contracting covid at all - if they were susceptible to variants, that would have shown up on the study, right? 

It really depends on the variant and what mutations are present. The dominant variant in Israel is the B117/UK variant, against which both vaccines and prior infection seem to protect quite well. I don't think we've seen a lot of reinfections with B117.

The variants in Brazil and South Africa, where there seem to be a lot more reinfections, both include a mutation called E484K. Scientists think this mutation may help the virus evade antibodies, and the fact that several vaccines (AZ, J&J, and Novavax) seemed to have significantly lower efficacy against the South African variant, combined with the rate of reinfection there, would seem to support that. And, unfortunately, the new variant in India also includes a version of this mutation, E484Q, with potentially the same effect.

[Faith-manor]

2 hours ago, mom2scouts said:

The State of Ohio is reporting that vaccination rates are up this week and they think the lottery is working. I'm not sure if it's entirely due to the lottery though. DD got hers yesterday, but she only became eligible last week and we would have done it anyway.

Yes this. In my area of Michigan, some folks were putting off their older teens vaccines until after AP exams or final exams for DE just in case their kids were hit hard with immune response at a bad time in their study cycle and test prep. A lot of college students didn't become eligible until April here and with only 2.5 -3 weeks until final exams, chose to wait until the end of the semester. We have had a bit of a rush of 18-24 year olds this week. New graduates are squeezing JnJ in between commencement and the start of new jobs, and other students working around the beginning of spring/summer classes and internships. So I am not shocked that we are just now seeing a bit of an up tick in this age group.

[Corraleno]

After the success of the Ohio lottery program, Maryland and New York are following suit.

Maryland:
"In a partnership with Maryland Lottery and the state health department, Marylanders who are vaccinated will be eligible for a $40,000 prize. The random selections will be daily between May 25 to July 3. Hogan said on July Fourth, a final drawing will be held, where a Marylander could be awarded $400,000. ... To be eligible, the governor said you have to be a Maryland resident aged 18 or older who has received, or will receive the vaccine in Maryland, and you are automatically entered to win."
https://www.wbaltv.com/article/covid-19-vaccine-lottery-maryland/36489671#

New York:
"As part of the "Vax and Scratch" pilot program, if someone gets vaccinated at one of the state's 10 mass vaccination sites between May 24 and 28, they'll receive a scratch-off ticket for the $5 million Mega Multiplier Lottery. A ticket normally costs $20. The top prize is $5 million, but anyone who has a ticket has a one-in-nine chance of winning something."
https://abc7ny.com/vaccine-incentive-lottery-ticket-andrew-cuomo-ny-covid/10667715/

[KungFuPanda]

25 minutes ago, Corraleno said:

After the success of the Ohio lottery program, Maryland and New York are following suit.

Maryland:
"In a partnership with Maryland Lottery and the state health department, Marylanders who are vaccinated will be eligible for a $40,000 prize. The random selections will be daily between May 25 to July 3. Hogan said on July Fourth, a final drawing will be held, where a Marylander could be awarded $400,000. ... To be eligible, the governor said you have to be a Maryland resident aged 18 or older who has received, or will receive the vaccine in Maryland, and you are automatically entered to win."
https://www.wbaltv.com/article/covid-19-vaccine-lottery-maryland/36489671#

New York:
"As part of the "Vax and Scratch" pilot program, if someone gets vaccinated at one of the state's 10 mass vaccination sites between May 24 and 28, they'll receive a scratch-off ticket for the $5 million Mega Multiplier Lottery. A ticket normally costs $20. The top prize is $5 million, but anyone who has a ticket has a one-in-nine chance of winning something."
https://abc7ny.com/vaccine-incentive-lottery-ticket-andrew-cuomo-ny-covid/10667715/

I just found out about MD’s Vax Cash. I came here to make a grand announcement, but you beat me to it. I’m totally going to win. 

[ScoutTN]

Ds13 was happy to get the vax, but also happy to get a free donut and a free coffee drink just for showing his card. And he gets another round in 3 weeks! A good incentive for my sugar- fiend! 😉
 

 

[Farrar]

23 minutes ago, ScoutTN said:

Ds13 was happy to get the vax, but also happy to get a free donut and a free coffee drink just for showing his card. And he gets another round in 3 weeks! A good incentive for my sugar- fiend! 😉
 

 

There is a Krispy Kreme less than 10 minute walk from our house. My kid has gotten SO MANY DOUGHNUTS.

[mommyoffive]

2 hours ago, Corraleno said:

After the success of the Ohio lottery program, Maryland and New York are following suit.

Maryland:
"In a partnership with Maryland Lottery and the state health department, Marylanders who are vaccinated will be eligible for a $40,000 prize. The random selections will be daily between May 25 to July 3. Hogan said on July Fourth, a final drawing will be held, where a Marylander could be awarded $400,000. ... To be eligible, the governor said you have to be a Maryland resident aged 18 or older who has received, or will receive the vaccine in Maryland, and you are automatically entered to win."
https://www.wbaltv.com/article/covid-19-vaccine-lottery-maryland/36489671#

New York:
"As part of the "Vax and Scratch" pilot program, if someone gets vaccinated at one of the state's 10 mass vaccination sites between May 24 and 28, they'll receive a scratch-off ticket for the $5 million Mega Multiplier Lottery. A ticket normally costs $20. The top prize is $5 million, but anyone who has a ticket has a one-in-nine chance of winning something."
https://abc7ny.com/vaccine-incentive-lottery-ticket-andrew-cuomo-ny-covid/10667715/

I hope my state follows suit!!

[mommyoffive]

First one today!!

Ohio set to announce first Vax-a-Million winners (msn.com)

[historically accurate]

Illinois joined the states offering lotteries today. Up to $1 million for adults and $150K 529 accounts for youth.  https://allin.illinois.gov/

[Jean in Newcastle]

Joints for Jabs

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/07/us/washington-marijuana-covid-vaccine.html

[Faith-manor]

9 minutes ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

Joints for Jabs

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/07/us/washington-marijuana-covid-vaccine.html

Wow! It is hard to imagine that this would NOT be popular. 🚬

[mommyoffive]

41 minutes ago, historically accurate said:

Illinois joined the states offering lotteries today. Up to $1 million for adults and $150K 529 accounts for youth.  https://allin.illinois.gov/

jealous

[MEmama]

Maine just announced a similar scheme over 100,000 people have signed up on the first day.

Idk why some adults need to be bribed, but whatever it takes to get shots in arms is good by me. We already had a high vaccination rate and this will make us even safer! 👍

[Matryoshka]

MA just got on the bandwagon too.  5 $1 million payouts, plus 5 $300K college scholarships for the under-18 set.

[historically accurate]

1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

jealous

Your state still hasn't joined the party, huh? You could move just a little south and hang out with me and possibly win a mil!

I'm planning for my mil on July 8th!

Edited June 17, 2021 by historically accurate

[Danae]

Minnesota is offering a selection of bribes including State Fair tickets to 12-17 year olds.  My boys went to sign up and found out they got their first shot too soon so they don’t qualify.  
 

They were momentarily bummed out, but then remembered that they’re fully vaccinated as of this weekend and if they’d waited they’d have another 2 weeks to go.  An extra two weeks of summer break that can be spent with friends is worth more to them than State Fair tickets. (Especially since Mom & Dad will probably spring for fair tix anyway.)

[Laura Corin]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/17/netherlands-offers-free-pickled-herring-as-covid-jab-incentive?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

[MEmama]

4 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/17/netherlands-offers-free-pickled-herring-as-covid-jab-incentive?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

That’s funny. But seriously the pickled herring there is amazing! 🙂 

[mommyoffive]

17 hours ago, Danae said:

Minnesota is offering a selection of bribes including State Fair tickets to 12-17 year olds.  My boys went to sign up and found out they got their first shot too soon so they don’t qualify.  
 

They were momentarily bummed out, but then remembered that they’re fully vaccinated as of this weekend and if they’d waited they’d have another 2 weeks to go.  An extra two weeks of summer break that can be spent with friends is worth more to them than State Fair tickets. (Especially since Mom & Dad will probably spring for fair tix anyway.)

UGh that stinks. I think it should be for people who already got the shot and new people.  

[mommyoffive]

17 hours ago, historically accurate said:

Your state still hasn't joined the party, huh? You could move just a little south and hang out with me and possibly win a mil!

I'm planning for my mil on July 8th!

Ha.  I haven't heard of my state doing anything.  We need to do it because as a state I think we are at 49% rate and that is one dose.