Colorado Looks At More Incentives To Increase Vaccinations As $1 Million Lottery Ends

DENVER (CBS4) - As Gov. Jared Polis announced the fifth and final $1 million vaccine lottery winner, he also urged the 30% of Coloradans who haven't received a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to get it soon.

"Let's end this pandemic once and for all, right here in Colorado," Polis said. "The virus is still with us, highly spreadable variants that are potentially more dangerous like the delta variant. It's a majority of cases in many parts of our state, but the vaccines work against the delta variant and all the variants."

Last week, the state celebrated that 70% of the population had at least one dose. However, COVID-19 case counts are still high in the 38 counties with less than 60% of residents with at least one dose of vaccine.

"It'll be a lot harder to get from 70% to 80% than it was to get from 0% to 70%. But with your help we will do it," Polis said.

While the massive financial incentive is going away, Polis said the state is still looking at other ways to pay people to get their vaccine. Plans will soon be announced for gift certificates or other awards.

"You'll see different concerts and events where you get drink tickets or a gift certificate. We're going to roll out more of those going forward," he said at a press conference on Wednesday.

There are also plans to increase vaccine access. The state now has eight mobile clinics that are going into communities to increase the chances of getting to unvaccinated people. One is solely dedicated to Mesa County now with the hopes of increasing vaccination rates there.

The state is also planning to expand programs with primary care physicians and pediatricians so people can get the vaccine from a more trusted source.

"Now is the time to really step up for yourselves, for Colorado, for your community to end this pandemic. We see a much higher rate of COVID-19 in the areas of our state with lower vaccination rates," Polis said.