If you live in Mesa County and think Colorado’s $5 million vaccine drawing isn’t enough incentive to get vaccinated, you might be in luck.
Mesa County Public Health will award two $500 cash prizes every week through the end of July. The pool of potential winners will include residents who entered their information on Mesa County Public Health's website within a week of getting either dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Individuals who have already received both doses of the vaccine will get an opportunity to win an even bigger prize. In August, the county will give away a grand prize that gets bigger as more residents get fully vaccinated. As of June 2, it sits at $50,355. The prize is capped at $90,000.
“Just like the statewide $1M initiatives, the prize money is coming from advertising and marketing funds from the federal government and designed to encourage vaccination against COVID-19,” said a Mesa County spokesperson in an email.
Mesa County has partnered with the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, which is providing the platform used to collect participant information. The local newspaper regularly throws contests using the digital promotion company Second Street Media.
“Community newspapers typically play the role of mirror to the community,” the Sentinel’s publisher Jay Seaton said. “In this context, we would very much like the reflection to appear more vaccinated and we’ll do anything we can to help.”
According to recent census data, about 154,000 people live in Mesa County. About 42 percent of eligible residents in the county have received at least partial immunity to COVID-19.
