May 22, 2021

The Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) supports creative methods to successfully increase vaccination rates in our state.

Vaccine hesitancy and access are significant challenges for our country, and a wide range of successful efforts—from direct conversations between patients and health care providers to novel approaches like West Virginia’s offer of a $100 savings bond for everyone between the ages of 16 and 35 who receive a vaccine—deserve our support.

Governor Brown’s announcement that Oregon will offer a vaccination lottery incentive similar to New York, Maryland and Ohio—which saw a 28% increase in vaccinations in the days after its lottery incentive was announced—is welcomed by ONA.

We encourage all Oregonians who are able to get the vaccine to do so as soon as possible and we support all efforts to increase vaccination rates in our state. ONA also encourages all Oregonians to follow public health guidance related to mask wearing, social distancing, hand-washing and other means of ending transmission of COVID-19.

Visit covidvaccine.oregon.gov to find out how to get a COVID-19 vaccine and access vaccine safety information.