Hundreds of Ohio state workers, spouses take advantage of $100 vaccine incentive

Hundreds of Ohio state workers and their spouses have taken advantage of a $100 vaccine incentive that was offered by the state.

Records given to The Associated Press by the Department of Administrative Services show 882 state employees and 218 spouses will be provided incentive payments in their next paycheck.

Republican Gov. Mike DeWine offered $100 for state employees and $25 for their spouses who get the coronavirus vaccine.

“We are hopeful the enhanced incentive encourages any individuals on the fence regarding the COVID-19 vaccine,” DeWine spokesperson Dan Tierney said Wednesday.

There are around 50,000 people employed by the state of Ohio.

Ohio was also the first state to launch a vaccine lottery to encourage residents to be vaccinated by offering them a chance for $1 million. 

“So it was very, very successful. It was something that worked. And we’re glad we did it,” DeWine said at the beginning of August about the lottery.

The state will be supporting individual hospitals who want to offer incentive programs for employees to get the vaccine, the governor said, according to the AP.

Ohio has 47 percent of its state fully vaccinated, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. 

Overall, there have been more than 1.1 million COVID-19 cases reported with more than 20,000 deaths.