SC Democratic lawmaker wants Ohio-style lottery to urge people to get COVID vaccine
South Carolina may be giving away some perks to encourage people to get the COVID-19 vaccine, but the top House Democrat wants the state to up the ante.
House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, D-Richland, on Thursday said the state should start a lottery program to get people excited about getting the vaccine.
Only 36.3% of South Carolinians are fully vaccinated, and 44.2% have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
It would be modeled after Ohio’s Vax-a-Million program, which allows state residents 18 and older to enter for a chance to win $1 million if they get at least one vaccine shot. Younger Ohioans between 12 and 17 years old can enter to win a four-year and full-ride scholarship to a public college or university. Ohio is holding five drawings for each lottery.
Rutherford wants South Carolina to dip into its federal relief pot to offer the cash prizes to adults and scholarships to teenagers.
State lawmakers tried to to that this year, when the Senate debated the South Carolina 2021-22 budget, discussing whether to add money that would award $250 college scholarships or $100 for the first 500,000 people to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Both ideas failed.
“I think the message of the state of South Carolina should be clear. Get vaccinated: protect yourself, protect those around you, and you just might win a million dollars,” Rutherford said in a news release.
“We have to get our statewide vaccination rate much higher than it is right now. Let’s get more people back to work, let’s make our classrooms safer, let’s truly return to ‘normal.’ ”
Gov. Henry McMaster will probably not support the idea of awarding prizes through a lottery.
“Governor McMaster believes that the decision to get vaccinated is one that needs to be made by each individual South Carolinian – not by the government,” said Brian Symmes, McMaster spokesman. “South Carolinians have been given all available information about the vaccine and that is all they need in order to make this personal decision. Enticing our people to take the vaccine with the lure of a lottery jackpot is irresponsible and a poor use of taxpayer dollars.”
South Carolina has looked at other ways to encourage people to get the vaccine.
For instance, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control has discussed working with the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism on a plan to offer COVID-19 shots at state parks in exchange for free admission.
Reporter Zak Koeske contributed to this article.
This story was originally published May 27, 2021 at 3:49 PM.
