TOLEDO, Ohio — The goal of Ohio's Vax-a-Million program was to give a jolt to Ohio's vaccination rate.
At first, some say it worked. But now that there won't be a million bucks or a college scholarship on the line each week, some may be without incentive to get a shot.
Six weeks ago, Ohio's governor provided a bombshell.
"Let's do this Ohio, let's get it done, let's get everyone vaccinated," Gov. Mike DeWine said on May 12 while announcing the program.
His goal at the time was to inspire more people to get the shot. While correlation doesn't imply causation, the numbers don't lie.
On May 12, 4,962,656 Ohioans had begun their vaccinations. On Wednesday, that number sat at 5,528,158 people -- a jump of more than 565,000.
It's a benchmark DeWine touted at a recent briefing and one health experts agree with.
"If you're asking if it's a success, yes," Toledo-Lucas County health commissioner Eric Zgodzinski told WTOL 11. "We got additional people vaccinated, most likely because of the Vax-a-Million. I don't know if it is the success I think everybody was hoping for. We didn't get to that 70%."
Zgodzinski said the state's recent trend lines up with the county's. More than 46% of Lucas County residents are vaccinated but numbers have been dropping lately.
"Everybody's triggered a little bit differently," he said. "Everybody's triggered in some way to get vaccinated for COVID."
The key, Zgodzinski said, is finding what will motivate people who remain on the fence. Variants are still emerging and doctors say the benefits of getting vaccinated haven't changed.
"The less opportunity there is for the virus to replicate, the less likely there are to be mutations. The fewer non-immune hosts that exist, the less of this virus there's going to be in the community," Dr. Jennifer Hanrahan, an infectious disease expert with ProMedica and the UToledo College of Medicine, told WTOL 11.
"As we go down the path over the next weeks to months, it's going to be an uphill battle to figure out who's going to get vaccinated for what incentive," Zgodzinski said.
Several private businesses are still providing incentives of their own as the state looks to gain more ground and roll up more sleeves without a million bucks on the table.