The state of Ohio is pulling out all the stops when it comes to increasing vaccine uptake. The state has launched a lottery. Five lucky recipients of covid-19 vaccines will each win $1 million.
There will be five weekly draws and it’s for adults only. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is hoping the scheme will boost the flagging uptake of jabs. It would appear that Ohio residents aren’t thrilled about playing Russian Roulette with their lives.
DeWine said that the lottery would be paid for by coronavirus relief funds from the federal government. Desperate times call for desperate measures eh? Meanwhile, vaccine uptake is proving problematic in the EU too. According to The Telegraph:
More than a quarter of adults in the European Union would be unlikely to take the Covid-19 vaccine when it was offered to them, a survey published on Thursday showed.
The results also suggested a strong link between vaccine hesitancy and the use of social media, particularly where social media is the main source of information, according to Eurofound which carried out the survey.
“Unfortunately, these findings reflect a failure to deliver persuasive and clear communication regarding the efficacy and safety of vaccines,” said Daphne Ahrendt, Eurofound senior research manager.
Bulgarians were the most reluctant to get the vaccine, with 67 per cent of adults saying they were unlikely or very unlikely to get it.
Go Bulgaria! That’s impressive. It’s hardly surprising that they’re blaming social media for vaccine hesitancy. Be warned, the censorship has only just begun. Watch the UK government’s Online Harms Bill closely.
When they start fining the social media giants (or banning them), for not taking down posts by so called anti-vaxxers, the censorship at that point will make you think that we lived in a free-speech Utopia in 2021.
