Michigan Latest State To Try Vaccine Lottery With $5 Million Sweepstakes

Detroit Free Press: $5M COVID-19 Vaccine Sweepstakes, Scholarships Coming To Michigan
Are you feeling lucky, Michigan? Gov. Gretchen Whitmer plans to announce details Thursday of a COVID-19 vaccine sweepstakes that will give vaccinated Michiganders a chance to win a combined total of more than $5 million in cash and nine college scholarships worth $55,000 apiece. Called the MI Shot to Win Sweepstakes, the lottery-style raffle will be operated by the state in conjunction with Meijer and the Michigan Association of United Ways as an incentive to encourage more residents to get vaccinated. (Jordan Shamus, 6/30)

In other news on the vaccine rollout —

NPR: White House Celebrates Vaccine Progress With Free Beer And Bill Pullman
America hasn't quite reached President Biden's July Fourth vaccination goal, but the White House isn't letting that get in the way of a good party. Starting Saturday, Biden and other administration officials will fan out around the country to celebrate that hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 are way down and life is getting back to normal. And even though not quite 70% of American adults are expected to have received their first shot by the Independence Day milestone, Budweiser is officially unlocking its free beer giveaway, one of many incentives dangled to try to lure people to roll up their sleeves ahead of July Fourth. That news was announced by actor Bill Pullman, who reprised the epic presidential speech of the 1996 blockbuster Independence Day, a movie about an alien invasion. (Keith, 6/30)

AP: First Lady, Second Gentleman Push COVID-19 Shots In Arizona
Jill Biden on Wednesday appealed to Arizona residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19, aiming to counter skepticism by declaring that the vaccines are safe and have been vigorously tested. “I’m here to ask all the viewers on these TV stations to please make the choice to get vaccinated because it’s safe,” she said in a speech before an invited audience and TV cameras after touring a vaccine clinic at Isaac Middle School in Phoenix. Just 40% of eligible Arizonans have been fully vaccinated. (Superville, 6/30)

San Francisco Chronicle: Facebook Will Be Sending A Vaccination Truck Into Bay Area Neighborhoods
Facebook’s community vaccine efforts are going mobile. In an effort to get coronavirus vaccines to underserved communities, the company said it is partnering with Bay Area nonprofits to send a mobile vaccine truck to schools near its Menlo Park headquarters. The truck will show up at different schools on the Peninsula on Fridays and Sundays throughout the summer and can administer up to 40 doses per hour. More information about timing and schedules for the Friday trucks will be posted at www.facebook.com/RavenswoodSchools while Sunday information will be available at facebook.com/FBMobileFarmersMarket. Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg announced the effort in an online post Wednesday. (DiFeliciantonio, 6/30)

The Boston Globe: Massachusetts Senior Care Company Mandates COVID Shots For Workers — A First For State’s Nursing Homes
Citing rising concern about a rapidly spreading and more contagious strain of the novel coronavirus, a Massachusetts senior care company Wednesday announced it will mandate COVID-19 shots for all of its workers, becoming one of the first in the state to take such action. The decision by Legacy Lifecare comes as vaccination rates remain stubbornly low at many Massachusetts nursing homes and some other senior care facilities, placing thousands of frail residents at risk. Roughly 30 percent of Massachusetts nursing home staff are not vaccinated, according to the most recent state data. (Lazar, 6/30)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: St. Louis Area Health Officials Want To Turn Around Dismal Teen Vaccination Rates Before School Starts 
Along with notebooks, highlighters and calculators, add a COVID-19 vaccine to the list of things needed for the first day of school, health officials say. “Now is the time to get a shot. Consider it part of your back-to-school list,” said St. Louis County Executive Sam Page. “This is arguably the most important tool your students need for the new school year.” The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19 is approved for those as young as 12, while Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are available for those 18 and older. (Munz, 6/30)

Also —

The Washington Post: Washington Rep. Jim Walsh Apologizes For Wearing Star Of David To Protest Covid Measures 
Washington state Rep. Jim Walsh has decried “vaccine segregation” and likened his state’s lottery encouraging immunization against the coronavirus to the “The Hunger Games.” Then, last weekend, the Republican lawmaker wore a yellow Star of David. “It’s an echo from history,” Walsh wrote of the star in the comments below a live stream of his talk Saturday in Lacey, Wash. “… In the current context, we’re all Jews.” (Knowles, 6/30)

Georgia Health News: Georgia Hospital Workers’ Vaccine Rates: The Good, The Bad, And The Unknown 
Houston Healthcare did the typical things to promote COVID-19 vaccination among its hospital workers, including stressing the importance and safety of getting a shot. But the Warner Robins-based system’s successful vaccine effort had a personal dimension as well. The deaths of three beloved staff members from COVID-19 motivated employees to get the shots, says Houston Healthcare’s CEO. (Miller and Goodman, 6/30)

AP: No Indictment For Doctor Accused Of COVID-19 Vaccine Theft
A grand jury on Wednesday declined to indict a former Houston-area health department doctor who was accused of stealing nine doses of coronavirus vaccine from a damaged vial and administering them to family and friends. Prosecutors had alleged that Dr. Hasan Gokal, who worked for Harris County Public Health, stole a vial of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine while working at a vaccination site at a suburban Houston park on Dec. 29. His attorney said Gokal was only trying to save lives by using doses that would have been thrown away. (Lozano, 7/1)