Holcomb Says No To Cash Incentives For COVID-19 Vaccinations

Gov. Eric Holcomb isn’t a fan of the state using monetary incentives to push more people to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Holcomb’s comments came after Ohio announced it will give away millions of dollars to encourage people to get vaccinated.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced a $1 million lottery system for vaccinated Ohioans last week, using federal COVID-19 relief dollars. Indiana’s neighboring state will also give away full-ride college scholarships to those under 18 who get the vaccine.

READ MORE: How Is Indiana Distributing COVID-19 Vaccines? Here's What You Need To Know

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Holcomb said he’s got a different approach.

“I’ve taken approach to try to entice people by making it uber-convenient to get vaccinated and appeal to their better senses about, this is how we all get through this quicker,” Holcomb said.

Holcomb said he’s not comfortable with monetary incentives.

“Some people will never get vaccinated and some people might wait until they waited for that monetary enticement," Holcomb said. "So, I don’t want folks to wait.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 10 states are worse than Indiana in the percentage of their population with at least one shot of the vaccine.

Holcomb acknowledged that, with vaccination rates leveling off in Indiana, getting more of the population vaccinated against the virus will be a grind. State health officials discussed recently what Indiana is doing to overcome vaccine hesitancy.

Contact reporter Brandon at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.