Young people who get the COVID-19 vaccine in West Virginia won't just gain protection against a deadly virus — they'll also make money.
The state will offer a $100 savings bond to everyone between the ages of 16 and 35 who gets vaccinated, Gov. Jim Justice, a Republican, announced at a Monday briefing. It's part of an ongoing push to get shots into the arms of younger residents, who have been largely slow to roll up their sleeves so far.
"Our kids today probably don't really realize just how important they are in shutting this thing down," Justice said. "I'm trying to come up with a way that's truly going to motivate them — and us — to get over the hump."
The initiative will apply retroactively to people in this age group who have already gotten their shots. It is funded with money from the CARES Act, with Justice adding that officials have "vetted this in every way that we possibly can."
West Virginia's vaccine rollout got off to a famously strong start earlier this year. Despite challenges such as a widespread lack of Internet access, the largely rural state had managed to fully vaccinate such a large percentage of its eligible population by late February that, had it been a country, it would have ranked third in the world.