Get jabbed. Get paid.
In a bid to encourage herd immunity, West Virginia announced on Monday that it would give $100 savings bonds to vaccine recipients between the ages of 16 and 35.
“Our kids today probably don’t really realize just how important they are in shutting this thing down,” West Virginia’s Republican Governor Jim Justice said. “I’m trying to come up with a way that’s truly going to motivate them – and us – to get over the hump.”
The West Virginia incentive – which is retroactive – will be funded with money from the CARES Act, passed on the federal level last month. According to CNN, “that relief package sent about $150 billion directly to state governments to help them fight the pandemic. States have until the end of this year to spend the money.”
West Virginia was an early leader with its relatively sky-high vaccination rate, but the state now ranks 29th in the country, according to NPR’s vaccine tracker. Last week, Justice said his state had “hit a wall” with vaccinations – especially with young people. There are roughly 380,000 West Virginians between the ages of 16 and 35.
CNN provides additional context:
About 52% of the state’s 1.5 million eligible residents have received at least one dose, according to the governor. If at least 275,000 of younger West Virginians get vaccinated, it will increase the state’s total to more than 70%.
Justice said that the youth of his state could “always stand an extra dose of patriotism.”