Cooper announces $1M drawing in NC for people who get vaccinated. How it will work.

Gov. Roy Cooper announced a cash drawing Thursday to encourage more people to get the coronavirus vaccine.

North Carolinians who get vaccinated or already have been vaccinated will be automatically entered in a drawing to win $1 million, which will be given to four people drawn every two weeks over eight weeks.

On the same dates, another four randomized drawings will award teenagers $125,000 college scholarships.

After getting a consensus vote from the Council of State, Cooper announced the drawing publicly at a Thursday press conference.

“In North Carolina, we still have around two and a half million adults who are not vaccinated,” Cooper said in a news conference Thursday. “Even if your name is not drawn, the worst you’ll do is get protected from a deadly virus.”

In an email obtained by The News & Observer, Cooper told the Council of State in a draft of his executive order that 54% of the adult population in North Carolina is partially vaccinated, while 81% of the population over 65 years old is partially vaccinated.

The executive order says Ohio’s Vax-A-Million incentive program led to a 28% increase in the vaccination rate of those over 16 at a time when Ohio was seeing steady decline in vaccines.

Eligibility for drawing

Anyone over 18 who has received their first dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines or the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and at that time was a resident of North Carolina is eligible for the $1 million prize.

Those who received the vaccine on or after June 10 will be entered twice, increasing their odds of winning, according to the proposed rules.

The same rules apply for the scholarship for those between 12 and 17 years old and the money must be used at a post-secondary education institute.

The document sent to the Council of State warns that the Department of Health and Human Resources is compiling the list of entrants but may not have access to vaccine records collected by the Department of Defense, Veterans’ Administration, Indian Health Service and other organizations in time for the drawing.

Council of State

At least one member of the Council of State vocalized his frustration toward Cooper’s plan. Treasurer Dale Folwell, a Republican, voted “no” and encouraged his colleagues to do the same.

The News & Observer hasn’t confirmed so far how the rest of the council voted individually.

Folwell said he’s not an anti-vaxxer and encourages people who want to be vaccinated to get vaccinated but said bribing people is an overreach.

“Anyone who thinks this is a political statement is just plain lazy,” Folwell said. “It is about lives and poverty.”

Folwell said he is unhappy with the state’s initial vaccine rollout and said the governor needs to take responsibility for that.

Folwell, who was hospitalized last year with a severe case of COVID-19, said he went to get a vaccine when they first became available.

He said he wasn’t asked for ID, wrote down every answer that would have disqualified him and was still allowed to be vaccinated without question. He said he sat next to several 19-year-olds who also failed to meet eligibility requirements and they were vaccinated.

“It should have been about age, age and age, and then hot spots,” Folwell said.

Legislative leader on board

The News & Observer first learned about the plan when Senate leader Phil Berger alluded to the drawing in an interview following the Senate session Wednesday but without specifics.

WRAL first reported the plans for the drawing Wednesday evening. Cooper’s office declined to confirm a drawing was in the works, but a spokesperson said the governor’s 3 p.m. news conference would be “announcing the next phase of incentives for the vaccine.”

One of North Carolina’s top elected Democrats confirmed that Cooper was working on a plan to launch the drawing but was still working on logistics.

The N&O also reached out to House Speaker Tim Moore, who confirmed that the governor called him for his opinion.

“He called me yesterday and I think he mentioned it to Phil (Berger) as well, just to ask and he wanted to get our reaction and see if we had any problem with it,” Moore, a Republican, said. “I thought it was just fine.”

Moore said other states have done this and it has increased the number of people being vaccinated.

Moore said, “Apparently there’s some federal funds that have been sent to the state that can be used for this purpose so it’s not going to affect the state funds at all.”

Berger, a Republican, told reporters Thursday that he had some concerns about vaccine incentives, giving the example “that some people might be reluctant because ‘Why should I get the shot today because I might get something better tomorrow?’”

On getting vaccinated, he said: “My personal view is that folks should make a decision on their own, consulting with their doctor. I’ve had the shot. If anybody asked me I would suggest that it’s the right thing for me, but they have to make their own decision about that.”

Staff writer Lucille Sherman contributed to this report.

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