<p>I am not sure why West Virginia is the least vaccinated state* in the US but</p>
<ol>
<li><p>If vaccination is progressing poorly in your state the government is more likely to try and encourage it by all sorts of measures - like vaccine lotteries/cash giveaways. Thus it is not the giveaways that cause low vaccination rates, but rather the other way around.</p>
</li>
<li><p>There has to be a least vaccinated state.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>If you combine 1. and 2. you will see that it is likely that the least vaccinated state will have a cash giveaway program (or something similar).</p>
<hr />
<p>*In fact, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/health/covid-vaccine-states-distribution-doses/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Alabama seems to be the currently least vaccinated state</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-20T07:18:57.477Z
+1 I would just add for the sake of OP, that this is classic example of endogeneity/reverse causality, so indeed one can’t make inferences here just by correlating monetary incentives with vaccination
1muflon1
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-20T06:36:36.760Z
2021-08-20T09:00:11.650Z
2021-08-20T09:00:11.650Z
Giskard
<p>In a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/covid-vaccine-incentives/2021/08/08/f586d3c6-f5ec-11eb-a636-18cac59a98dc_story.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">newspaper</a>, I saw the paragraph</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In some U.S. states that held lotteries for vaccine recipients, with
some prizes reaching the million-dollar mark, leaders reported upticks
in interest, but it’s unclear how large of a role the incentive
played. <strong>West Virginia, among the first to announce cash giveaways,
remains one of the least-vaccinated states in the country</strong>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Even in some paper,the monetary incentives is not really a good way to persuade the people to vaccinate <a href="https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/8959e2b4-0587-382a-a8ac-ebac86c104c5/?utm_source=desktop&amp;utm_medium=1.19.8&amp;utm_campaign=open_catalog&amp;userDocumentId=%7B1ad846af-3cdb-3ba3-b23d-9715ee04810b%7D" rel="nofollow noreferrer">(Sprengholz 2021, page 1)</a>. However, in West Virginia, it <strong>even becomes the least-vaccinated states in US</strong>, I am wondering what is the logical explanation behind this phenomenon?</p>

<monetary-policy><united-states><covid-19-crisis>
Why West Virginia is one of the least-vaccinated states in the country due to cash giveaway announcement?
Phil Nguyen
# Why West Virginia is one of the least-vaccinated states in the country due to cash giveaway announcement?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-08-20)

In a [newspaper](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/covid-vaccine-incentives/2021/08/08/f586d3c6-f5ec-11eb-a636-18cac59a98dc_story.html), I saw the paragraph

> In some U.S. states that held lotteries for vaccine recipients, with
> some prizes reaching the million-dollar mark, leaders reported upticks
> in interest, but it’s unclear how large of a role the incentive
> played. **West Virginia, among the first to announce cash giveaways,
> remains one of the least-vaccinated states in the country**.

Even in some paper,the monetary incentives is not really a good way to persuade the people to vaccinate [(Sprengholz 2021, page 1)](https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/8959e2b4-0587-382a-a8ac-ebac86c104c5/?utm_source=desktop&utm_medium=1.19.8&utm_campaign=open_catalog&userDocumentId=%7B1ad846af-3cdb-3ba3-b23d-9715ee04810b%7D). However, in West Virginia, it **even becomes the least-vaccinated states in US**, I am wondering what is the logical explanation behind this phenomenon?

**Tags:** monetary-policy, united-states, covid-19-crisis


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-08-20. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

I am not sure why West Virginia is the least vaccinated state\* in the US but

1. If vaccination is progressing poorly in your state the government is more likely to try and encourage it by all sorts of measures - like vaccine lotteries/cash giveaways. Thus it is not the giveaways that cause low vaccination rates, but rather the other way around.
2. There has to be a least vaccinated state.

If you combine 1. and 2. you will see that it is likely that the least vaccinated state will have a cash giveaway program (or something similar).

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\*In fact, [Alabama seems to be the currently least vaccinated state](https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/health/covid-vaccine-states-distribution-doses/).

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: +1 I would just add for the sake of OP, that this is classic example of endogeneity/reverse causality, so indeed one can’t make inferences here just by correlating monetary incentives with vaccination  

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