Get your COVID-19 shots, get a shot at $5 million.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, calling the slowing pace of COVID-19 vaccinations “troubling news” on Thursday, announced an incentive to get New Yorkers vaccinated next week: a ticket for the state’s Mega Multiplier lottery, where the top prize is $5 million.
Cuomo described the “Vax & Scratch” program at a briefing in Buffalo as he said the number of vaccinations statewide is slowing “dramatically.”
“We still have to get people vaccinated,” he said.
The lottery ticket is a $20 value, he said, and he put the chances of winning “something” with it at 1 in 9. The pilot program runs from next Monday to Friday.
The tickets can be obtained at 10 state-run mass vaccination sites including those at Stony Brook University, the Javits Center in Manhattan, York College in Queens and Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn.
Cuomo said getting the vaccine has “practical benefits” beyond the lottery ticket, such as giving people more freedom to attend certain events and activities, from restaurants to professional baseball games.
“If you get the vaccine, then this goes away,” he said, picking up a face mask and referring to new regulations that allow vaccinated people to go mask-free in many situations.
He also announced another day of COVID-19 statistics that he called “really, really promising.”
Hospitalizations statewide were 1,490 on Wednesday, their lowest level since Nov. 8. The overall statewide positivity rate was .85%, the lowest level since Sept. 11.
That “really is a phenomenal piece of good news,” Cuomo said.
The seven-day average for positive results was 0.89% on Long Island and 0.81% in New York City.
Statewide, 18 people died Wednesday of causes linked to the virus, state data showed.
The fatalities were a “true reminder that this is not over,” Cuomo said. “We still have to be careful.”
More than 18 million New Yorkers age 18 or older have received at least one vaccine shot, he said. About 62.6% of those eligible in the state have received at least one shot, and 53.5% are fully vaccinated.
Cuomo also announced seven new pop-up vaccination sites that will operate next week at airports throughout the state, including LaGuardia and Kennedy airports.
The sites will be open for walk-in vaccinations on a first-come, first-served basis and will use the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
On Long Island, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone on Thursday announced officials will offer free vaccines and free drinks in a pop-up vaccine site on Friday at Smith Point Beach.
Health officials will administer the one-shot Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to walk-in patients from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Anyone ages 21 and older who gets vaccinated at the site will get a free drink ticket for Tiki Joe’s Beach Club, the Smith Point beachfront restaurant set to open Friday night.
“Summer is almost here, and we all want to be able to enjoy our favorite warm weather activities safely,” Bellone said in a statement. “Friday’s POD at Tiki Joe’s is the County’s latest effort to make getting vaccinated as easy and convenient as possible, with the added incentive of a free drink to enjoy on the beach.”
The planned pop-up comes as the county is offering free drink tickets for local breweries and wineries to anyone of drinking age who gets vaccinated at a Suffolk vaccination site this month.
The Smith Point pop-up will be operated by Suffolk County and Northwell Health.
With Rachelle Blidner
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