Most COVID lottery entrants immunized before program started

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Data shows that most of the people who participated in Missouri’s COVID-19 vaccine lottery were already immunized before the program started.

The incentive program was started in July as Missouri struggled to control a surge in cases driven by the more transmissible delta variant in less-vaccinated communities.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services conducted the last of the drawings in the program Friday.

The Kansas City Star reports were among the participants, 57,117 adults got the shot after the program was announced, while nearly 600,000 got the shot beforehand.