West Virginia governor says he'll pay young people $100 savings bonds for getting Covid vaccine, gets bribery accusations

West Virginia Governor Jim Justice has announced that he'll give $100 in saving bonds to people between the ages of 16 and 35 who choose to get vaccinated, prompting critics to accuse him of both bribery and not offering enough.

Claiming that young people are “not taking vaccines as fast as we'd like them to take them,” Justice said on Monday that he's been trying “to come up with a way that's truly going to motivate them –and us– to get over the hump.”

To do this, Justice –a Republican– revealed he will give every young person who receives the vaccine $100 in saving bonds and the initiative will be retroactive, allowing those who have already been vaccinated to receive the bonds too.

Justice concluded that if the state becomes 70% vaccinated, “the masks go away, the hospitalizations go away, and the deaths become minimal.”

Though some Americans supported the initiative, with MSNBC host Joy Reid calling it “a really good idea,” others accused Justice of engaging in bribery.

“When you have to bribe people to take your product…” commented one social media user – a sentiment echoed by many others.

Justice also received criticism for offering saving bonds as the reward, arguing that they're not even “worth the paper they are printed on.”

“Savings bonds? Wait til the people getting vaccinated realize how much those bonds are *actually* worth… Just cut them a check, you cheap b*stards,” protested one person.

West Virginia has recorded over 150,000 cases of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic and 2,821 deaths. Over 700,000 West Virginians have received at least one dose of a vaccine, while 558,000 have been fully vaccinated, according to the state.

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