Gov. Tony Evers is turning to cash incentives to persuade more Wisconsin residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as a more contagious variant of the virus threatens the state.
Evers announced a new program Monday that would distribute through Labor Day $100 Visa gift cards to anyone in the state who gets their first shot of a vaccine from a Wisconsin provider between August 20 and September 6.
The governor told reporters at a news conference at Winnebago Health Department in Oshkosh that he had been skeptical of creating an incentive program but changed his mind after seeing results of a new program in Michigan that provides cash prizes ranging from $50,000 to $2 million.
“I’ll be quite frank with you, I was one of the skeptics of the discussion, but I saw how well this particular program worked in the state of Michigan,” he said. “Time for me to move beyond that and do the incentive. It is really important for us to make sure this school year gets off to a good start, and this is one of the ways to do that is to make that happen.”
The gift cards will be mailed to applicants and may take up to six weeks to be distributed. To receive the card, eligible Wisconsin residents should fill out a form available at 100.wisconsin.gov, which will be used to verify the vaccine was administered.