An incentive program launched earlier this month to boost lagging COVID-19 vaccinations has done just that and will be extended through July and into August.
“Before we launched the HI Got Vaccinated campaign on June 4, we were seeing a steady decline of about 20% each week in the number of people getting vaccinated in Hawaii,” Hilton Raethel, president and CEO of the Healthcare Association of Hawaii said during a Zoom call Tuesday afternoon. “But since the launch, that decline has been reversed and stabilized. The campaigns and the promotions attributed to an increase of 30% more people initiating vaccination over what was predicted, resulting in approximately 21,500 additional vaccinations to date.”
The HI Got Vaccinated initiative offers vaccinated residents discounts at retailers across the state and a chance to win a variety of prizes, including airline miles and hotel rewards, round-trip flights, a trip to Las Vegas, a one-year auto lease, gift cards and more.
Individuals who have received at least one dose and register by 11:59 p.m. tonight will be eligible to win one of 83 prizes listed on higotvaccinated.com.
Seven winners have already won airline tickets, airline miles and hotel stays, and six more winners will be announced Friday.
Another 83 winners will be drawn Thursday and announced later in July.
As of Tuesday, more than 240,000 people have registered for the chance to win a prize, and the website has received more than 1.28 million views.
Patrick Bullard with H&B Marketing said during the same Zoom call that if the contest ended Wednesday as originally planned, “we may not get as many more people vaccinated.”
A second round of prizes, including three $5,000 cash prizes offered by American Savings Bank, will be listed on higotvaccinated.com on July 12, and the campaign will continue until grand prize winners are announced on Aug. 20.
“Clearly, people should be getting vaccinated because it’s the right thing to do to protect yourself and others around you, but if a little cash helps, we’re going to do it,” Bullard said. “So we’re going to incentivize you with whatever it takes to get vaccinated and protect our community.”
Individuals who registered on the site in June automatically will be entered to win in July and will not need to register again.
Raethel said vaccination rates are not expected to return to where they were in the spring, but it’s hoped that inoculation levels hold steady as the summer progresses.
Gov. David Ige said last week that when the state reaches a fully vaccinated rate of 70%, all COVID-related emergency restrictions will be dropped, and the state’s Safe Travels Program will end.
As of Tuesday, however, just 57.6% of the state’s total population has been fully vaccinated.
“Vaccination is our way out of this pandemic and this pandemic can end,” Raethel said. “If we want our children to go to school safely in person full-time, we need people to be vaccinated. If we want our economy to recover, we need people to be vaccinated. If we want to be safe as we celebrate at birthdays and weddings, and as we mourn at funerals, we need people to be vaccinated. We should be able to hug each other without hesitation or fear.”
State Department of Health spokesman Brooks Baehr said there are many reasons why some people have yet to be inoculated against the coronavirus, but incentives might push some of those individuals to do so.
“If you haven’t done it because you’ve been busy at work or with child care, or you’re just procrastinating, well maybe the incentive is going to do it for you,” he said. “But it’s not going to do it for everybody.”
Some individuals still face barriers to access, Baehr said. Throughout the incentive campaign, however, the DOH also has focused on vaccine outreach, education and access.
“We want to break down those barriers, we want to bridge all the gaps that are there,” he said.
Email Stephanie Salmons at ssalmons@hawaiitribune-herald.com.