LAKE TAPPS, Wash. — On Thursday, Washington state introduced a vaccine lottery with a $1 million dollar jackpot intended to boost vaccination rates in the state.
However, some people say they still aren't getting the shot.
Delores Sims sat on the edge of a dock on Lake Tapps, casting a reel with the hopes of getting at least one fish.
"I love the skies, the blues, look how beautiful it is," she said, on a sunny Thursday afternoon.
Yet, she also admitted, she was more likely to catch a fish than a dose of a vaccine.
"I had that first shot, and I got sick that very night," she said. "I'm afraid, to be truthful."
She is the target of Gov. Jay Inslee's incentive-laden program to boost vaccination rates. With the state hovering over 60%, and a goal of 70% by June 30, Inslee is hoping the million-dollar giveaway, and prizes will cause some people to make the leap.
Inslee's announcement follows similar incentive programs, and million-dollar giveaways in places like California, Oregon, Ohio, West Virginia, and New Mexico.
Multiple areas, near Lake Tapps and Bonney Lake have vaccination rates below 40%.
Sims' mother-in-law Elvira says she got her first dose in January and is now fully vaccinated. "It's no different than having a flu shot, or any other shot," she said, "If I would have held off, I could have had the COVID, and money is not going to do any good if you don't take care of yourself."
"A quarter-million dollars ain't gonna do me no good if I die from it," said Sims, who explained she's not interested in the governor's other incentives either. "I don't wanna go nowhere. I have no intention of going to no sports, no intention of going on no plane."
"I want to see how other people do with the shot," she added, before casting another line.
Over 285 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the United States as of May 24. During this time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received 4,863 reports of death among those who were vaccinated, which represents 0.0017% of all people who got the shot.