Although fifty percent of Arkansas adults have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the state is still behind the national average on vaccinations, so on Tuesday, Governor Asa Hutchinson announced two incentives to encourage state residents to receive a shot.
Hutchinson said beginning June 1, the state will offer the choice a $20 Arkansas lottery scratch-off ticket with a possible prize of up to $1 million or a $21 gift certificate from Arkansas Game and Fish for two regular hunting and fishing licenses to those who decide to get vaccinated.
The incentive plan will cost around $2 million (50,000 lottery tickets and 50,000 gift certificates), Hutchinson said. The funding is coming from the Arkansas Department of Health that is designated for incentive programs that have been approved for vaccination distribution, the governor said.
Arkansas is seeing more cases of COVID-19 this week with four deaths confirmed since yesterday. There have been 329 new cases; 96 active cases; and 9,378 doses of vaccine administered since the beginning of the week.
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