There’s another vaccine incentive in Ohio — this one for school-age kids. Here’s what to know

COLUMBUS — After Gov. Mike DeWine announced a new vaccine lottery Thursday — this one aimed at a younger age group with low vaccination rates — reporters asked him what would be different this time from the state's previous "Vax-a-Million" lottery, which drew criticism for having too small an impact on the state's vaccination rate.

Ohio's new "Vax-2-School" COVID-19 vaccine incentive program will offer $1 million in scholarships to Ohio colleges and universities for Ohioans age 12 to 25, one of the age groups with the lowest vaccination rates statewide, the governor said Thursday.

Though about 73 percent of Ohioans older than 40 and 84 percent of Ohioans 65 and older have received at least one dose of the vaccine, "if you look at younger Ohioans, we don't find such good news," the governor said during a Thursday media briefing.

Statewide, the vaccination rate for that age group is about 46 percent, and much lower than that in some parts of the state, he said.

The "Vax-a-Million" lottery, kicked off in May, offered five $1 million prizes to vaccinated adult Ohioans and five full-ride scholarships for vaccinated 12- to 17-year-olds. DeWine on Thursday called it a "success" and said it helped start about 130,000 new vaccinations in the state.

But a Journal of the American Medical Association study published in July, two weeks after the lottery ended, suggested the program reversed the state's declining vaccination rate only for a brief period.

DeWine's office called that study "flawed" and on Thursday delivered to reporters a Harvard University study showing a 44-percent increase in vaccination rates for those age 16 and older during the first week of the lottery and a 15-percent increase the second week.

The study also found a more than 100 percent increase in vaccinations among all age groups in the lottery's first week, but it's important to note that vaccine eligibility was opened to those age 12 and older the day after the lottery was announced. That first week, vaccinations for those age 12 to 15 jumped nearly 11,500 percent, the Harvard study shows.

"We know the ticket to safety, the ticket to a full society is more vaccinations," DeWine told reporters Thursday. "I can't guarantee that this will work, but I think it's got a good shot at working … and it's worth trying."

The new incentive program is similar to how the previous Vax-a-Million lottery worked.

The state is offering five separate $100,000 scholarships and fifty $10,000 scholarships to Ohio colleges and universities. The funds can be put toward any type of education — undergraduate or postgraduate, career or technical education or job training, DeWine said.

Any Ohioan age 12 to 25 who has received the coronavirus vaccine is eligible to enter. Those who have already been vaccinated are automatically entered into the drawing. The winners will be announced daily Monday through Friday beginning the week of Oct. 11.

The Ohio Department of Health and Ohio Lottery are expected to announce more details in the coming days, including how to register, DeWine's office said.

'Dire situation' in hospitals

On Thursday, the Ohio Hospital Association, which represents 245 hospitals and 15 health systems in the state, penned a letter to the governor stressing the "dire situation" in the state's hospitals — recent inpatient and ICU volume that, while not as high as during COVID-19's December surge, is now compounded by "intense" staffing shortages.

Among the data the association presented:

• The 200 patients Ohio hospitals were treating in mid-July has swelled 16 times in just two months to about 3,700.
• In mid-July, 1 of every 100 patients was being treated for COVID-19. Today it's 1 in 6. Whereas about 2 percent of COVID-19 patients were in the ICU then, it's now 25 percent. Of those patients, 40 percent are now on ventilators.
• Though COVID-19's current surge in northern Ohio has "somewhat lagged" behind the rest of the state, ICU admissions continue to rise. Ventilators also are now being shared and distributed more than during the last surge.
• At children's hospitals, the number of pediatric COVID-19 patients is more than double what it was in winter, and child ICU admissions are now three times higher. The average number of new pediatric hospitalizations is 12 times higher than a month ago. The surge of new patients is also compounded by other serious conditions such as Respiratory Synctial Virus, or RSV, which can sometimes require ICU care.

"Hospitals' ability to treat all patients consistent with their normal standards is becoming increasingly difficult because their resources are being stretched so thin," wrote Mike Abrams, association president and CEO.

This story was originally published September 23, 2021 at 9:04 PM with the headline "There’s another vaccine incentive in Ohio — this one for school-age kids. Here’s what to know."