West Virginia Governor Jim Justice (great name) is offering guns, scholarships and trucks as incentives to boost vaccine uptake in his state. Newly vaccinated West Virginians will be entered into a lottery.
Prizes include custom-outfitted trucks, lifetime hunting and fishing licenses and hunting rifles. There’s also a $1.588 million grand prize, a second prize of $588,000 and scholarships to any higher education institution in the state
Governor Justice was obviously inspired by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine. He’s giving away million dollar prizes and scholarships in a bid to convince refuseniks to roll up their sleeves. Only in America. 
Justice said the push to get more West Virginians vaccinated is crucial in order to save lives. Speaking yesterday he said:
“The faster we get people across the finish line the more lives we save. That’s all there is to it,” Gov. Justice said. “If the tab just keeps running the cost is enormous. The hospitalizations are enormous. We have to get all of our folks across the finish line.”
It’s worked in Ohio. Five days after the launch of the lottery, the Ohio Department of Health said that the campaign had led to a 28 percent increase in the vaccination rate of those aged 16 and older.
Might we see it here? I wouldn’t rule it out. One evening soon, you might turn on your TV during a commercial break, only to see Matt Hancock driving a brand new fully loaded Range Rover, while telling viewers that the car could be theirs to drive away, if they’d just register and roll up their sleeves.
We’re living in a lunatic asylum. Is there any escaping it?
