Civic Register
| 5.3.21
Young West Virginians Offered $100 Incentive to Get COVID-19 Vaccine - Should Other States Follow Suit?
Should states use unspent COVID relief funding to offer young Americans money for getting vaccinated?
What’s the story?
- West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) recently announced a plan to offer a $100 financial incentive for residents between the ages of 16 and 35 to get the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine.
- The Mountain State was one of the fastest states in the U.S. in terms of its initial vaccine rollout, but younger residents who have only recently become eligible have been slow to get vaccinated, prompting the governor to move forward with the financial incentive.
- Justice said the incentive will be retroactive, so West Virginians in that demographic who were previously vaccinated will also get the payment:
“If you have been vaccinated and you are 16 to 35 years in age, you will receive the bonds. You shouldn’t be thinking, ‘I could get vaccinated today, but they aren’t up and running on these savings bonds.’ Just go get vaccinated. We will make it retroactive so that anyone in this age range that has received their shots will absolutely get their bond.”
- Justice initially announced that eligible recipients will receive $100 savings bonds through the U.S. Treasury, which are purchased for half the face value and mature to face value after 20 years. The governor said that while young West Virginians may be unfamiliar with savings bonds, their parents and grandparents understand the significance and, “It will give our kids something that, in my opinion, we need to infuse in all of us, and that’s an extra dose of patriotism.”
- While the state is investigating the possibility of savings bonds, Justice indicated that because the Treasury only issues electronic savings bonds so the logistics are “difficult” and, “At the rainbow, we may have to say, nope, we just can’t do that. We’re just going to send you a $100 check,” perhaps with a keepsake card and silver dollar.
- There are roughly 380,000 West Virginians in the target 16 to 35 age group and Justice’s goal is to incentivize about 275,000 people in the demographic (which is a little more than 70%) to get vaccinated. Justice said of West Virginians in the target demographic:
“Our kids today probably don’t really realize just how important they are in shutting this thing down. I’m trying to come up with a way that’s truly going to motivate them ― and us ― to get over the hump… If we can get to 70%, we’ll shut this virus down. If we do that, the masks go away, the hospitalizations go away, and the deaths become minimal.”
- At that participation level, the initiative would cost about $27.5 million (although buying savings bonds would cost closer to $13 million). Funding will come from unspent COVID-19 relief funding the state received through previous federal relief packages. As of April 20, 2021, the West Virginia State Auditor’s Office found that over $615 million of the $1.27 billion the state received from the enactment of the CARES Act in March 2020 is unspent.
- Justice said the state has “vetted this in every way that we possibly can to be assured that we can use our CARES dollars to do exactly just this.” He also noted that the state has been spending about $10 million per month on testing for residents, so if his plan succeeds in getting enough West Virginians vaccinated to reach herd immunity it will save money over time.
— Eric Revell
(Photo Credit: iStock.com / Jitalia17)
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People just get the vaccine. Millions of Americans have been vaccinated with the same vaccine you are scared of taking with little to no side effects. Billions of people have been vaccinated with other vaccine all their lives. For once, people think about others.
With all the people who has lost there life to COVID in the USA an around the world an that not prove enough to see you need to be vaccinated why any one any where should receive money to do the right thing it just blow your mind
This small incentive could save millions of people huge medical bills and future medical issues. Getting people vaccinated has such a ripple effect, which should have an even greater effect on low income communities, that could suffer more of many in that community were to get COVID and be hospitalized.
A. That’s bribery. B. That’s tax money that the government took from the people. If there’s so much money left over, a great idea would be to give it back.
Whatever works!
The vaccine has become as religious as Jonestown’s Kool-aid
Quelling the pandemic before it mutates to an invincible variant is the only way we can be safe. This requires the immunization of as many people as possible. If paying people to do what sensible people would do is what it takes, do it.
If states have unspent funds, then they should use them to convince as many people to get vaccinated as possible. The last administration created so much fear and distrust around the vaccine, that at this point we will never reach herd immunity due to high levels of vaccine hesitancy. States need to continue thinking of creative ways to reassure people that the vaccine is safe and necessary for the health of the world.
Millions of Americans got vaccinated without getting paid for it. It’s your duty to protect others. All they have to do is put restrictions on unvaccinated people no movies, no concert, no ball games, no college, no privileges. If they want these things they have to get vaccinated simple as that.
This is merely a bribe to get a ineffective vaccine sure you will be protected MAYBE says maybe on packaging not my wording Pfizer’s words maybe against the virus with spike protein but the new infections in India are the varient that has removed the spike protein so removing that vaccine effectiveness early data says less than 40% effective against the 2 variants from South Africa an UK your vaccine is not effective against the viruses that account for almost all new infections but were ignoring that fact I’m the USA ppl gotta see baseball n pawn there kids off on teachers so they can quote “work” those are far more important than acknowledging the virus has already mutated to almost full escapability of the vaccines in use today in fact. There is no known vaccine that gives any immunity to any of the Covid viruses again Pfizer’s words not mine
This reminds me of the money incentive to hospitals (who also profited in this covid pandemic besides Fauci and Bill Gates) to report covid cases and covid deaths that lead to the explosion of numbers that were falsified to scare the public into a socialist agenda.
Dorothy, Bonnie, Uh ... A local Texas brew, Karbach Hopadillo. 👍. Maybe I don’t need any new additions at my age‼️. Not that I have many, if any opportunities ‼️👍😀😀🤣...
If that’s what it takes to get people to get vaccinated then do it. We all want our lives back and we can’t get there without everyone being vaccinated.
maybe we should take senator Collins wages and that of her insider trading husband to pay people to get a shot if their democrats
The idea of getting a Vaccination shot is absolutely a individual choice, there is no reason to bride anybody to get one.
Make China pay for it rather than being bought off.. They created and transmitted this to the world and Democrats were very willing to let it happen.
@Bonnie. BINGO! Great idea, free beer for every vasectomy!! This should definitely put a dent in the rt wing population
That’s literally the definition of bribery!
In the late seventies India gave men a transistor radio to get a vasectomy. It greatly helped curve the population growth for a time. I think free money is an incentive that could help get more vaccinated.
it is for the public good. Let's hope that this does not cause people in other states to hold back getting vaccinated while they wait for an incentive payment. Otherwise, why not - the pandemic will never be fully suppressed until our country truly reaches herd immunity which is currently estimated to occur when we reach from 70% to 90% of the population vaccinated.