Former congressman and GOP candidate for governor Jim Renacci urged Governor Mike DeWine to stop using taxpayer money to fund “wasteful” vaccine lotteries.
Currently, the state is conducting a lottery-style giveaway called Vax2School, which will distribute $2 million on scholarships to school-aged children who receive the coronavirus vaccine.
“Vaccines for children or adults should not be a lottery gimmick. They do not work and are a waste of taxpayer dollars. The decision to get a vaccination should be between the individual, their parent, and their healthcare provider. Let’s stop these dirty DeWine gimmicks and get back to allowing people to follow the advice of a healthcare professional, not a carnival barker like DeWine,” Renacci said in a statement.
Earlier in the year, DeWine conducted a separate giveaway that provided five different winners $1 million each.
However, Renacci pointed to study from the University of Colorado-Denver that explained “none of the 19 state-led vaccine lotteries led to increased vaccinations.”
“The latest research proves that vaccine lotteries just don’t work – no matter how many millions in taxpayer dollars you waste. People want the freedom to make their own decisions about their health, more than the gimmicks that DeWine and his fellow big-spending governors like Gavin Newsom are pushing,” Renacci continued.
If elected, Renacci has pledged to end mandates throughout the state and has routinely spoken out against the lottery giveaways in Ohio.
“DeWine’s Vax-to-School takes a failed gimmick to a sickening level. Dangling lottery money to make parents vaccinate their children is just sick, and a blatant waste of taxpayer money. Ohio’s children and parents deserve better. No one should be forced or coerced by the government to get a vaccine for themselves or their children,” Renacci added.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for The Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Mike DeWine” by Mike DeWine.
