LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson announced on Tuesday that the state will give away lottery tickets and gift certificates to people who get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Those who get vaccinated beginning May 25 will have a choice of winning an Arkansas Lottery Scholarship $20 scratch-off ticket or a $20 gift certificate for the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission.

The scratch-off ticket is for the $1 Million Spectacular game. The gift certificates can be used for fishing and/or hunting licenses.

The Arkansas Department of Health has purchased 50,000 scratch-off tickets and 50,000 gift certificates at a cost of $2 million, Gov. Hutchinson said in a briefing on Tuesday.

Arkansans who have already been vaccinated are not eligible.

The state has had one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country. About 39 percent of the state’s population has gotten at least one dose of the vaccine, according to the CDC.

Several other states have begun offering lottery incentives for vaccinations including New York and Ohio.

Arkansas on Tuesday announced 329 new coronavirus cases, bringing its total since the pandemic began to 340,515. The state’s COVID-19 hospitalizations rose by five to 200 and deaths rose by four to 5,824.

https://www.katv.com/news/local/arkansas-launches-vaccine-incentive-using-lottery-prizes