Archives for May 2021

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California is giving away the country’s largest pot of vaccine prize money — $116.5 million — in an attempt to get millions more inoculated before the most populous state fully reopens next month.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced the prizes, which include $1.5 million each for 10 Californians, the largest single award offered in any state.

The goal is to motivate roughly 12 million people who are eligible but not yet vaccinated, though the more than 20 million Californians already partially or fully vaccinated also are in the running for the most valuable prizes.

“We’re putting aside more resources than any other state in America, and we’re making available the largest prizes of any state in America for those that seek to get vaccinated,” Newsom announced at an East Los Angeles high school where people were being vaccinated in the gymnasium.

The state will give $50 gift cards either for general use or for specific grocery stores to the next 2 million people who get shots, including those at the school where Newsom spoke.

Newsom, a freshman Democrat facing a likely recall election in the fall, defended the spending as smart policy aimed at ensuring more than 70% of eligible people are inoculated before the state fully reopens businesses and relaxes social distancing and masking rules on June 15.

On that day, a drawing will be held to award 10 vaccinated people the top prize. Another 30 people will win $50,000 each, with those drawings starting June 4.

Anyone 12 and older who has received at least one shot will be eligible. The state will use its immunization database to automatically enter people into the drawings, though it’s still exploring how to include those vaccinated at federal facilities, such as veterans hospitals.

Newsom said he hopes to give out all the gift cards by June 15, which would mean 2 million more people are vaccinated.

Money for the prizes will come from the state’s disaster response account, which will be reimbursed by federal coronavirus relief money, said Amelia Matier, a Newsom spokeswoman.

When asked if the expense is worth it, the governor replied that the “cost of not getting vaccinated is exponentially, incalculably higher.”

About 63% of the 34 million Californians 12 and older have gotten shots, though the pace has slowed as infection rates have plummeted to record lows. The number of people getting their first shots dropped notably in the past week, and the state is trying to not go off a cliff in the next week or two, Newsom said.

California joins a growing list of states offering incentives to boost vaccination rates.

Ohio this week announced the first $1 million winner of its “Vax-a-Million” contest, as well as the first child to win a full college scholarship. The number of people signing up for shots jumped after Republican Gov. Mike DeWine announced the lottery, though it was still lower than earlier in the pandemic. Colorado and Oregon also offered $1 million prizes.

New York is raffling 50 full scholarships to children 12 to 17 to public universities and colleges in the state, selecting 10 winners each of the next five Wednesdays.

That California is turning to cash prizes to encourage vaccinations marks a major turnaround from earlier this year, when residents clamored for shots. Some drove or waited in line for hours, and others found ways to get into line when they weren’t eligible.

State Sen. Richard Pan, a doctor and staunch advocate for vaccines, said it makes sense that demand dropped off after early adopters eager to get the vaccine had their chance. While some Californians will never get the shot, many hung back to see the effect, and others simply didn’t consider the shot a priority, he said.

With Memorial Day coming and the state’s reopening about two weeks later, it’s a “good time to incentivize people,” Pan said.

Republican John Cox, who is running for governor, again accused Newsom of buying votes. The governor has been doling out slices of a record $76 billion state budget surplus this month, including cash payments to low- and middle-income Californians.

“This is 100 million more reasons that Gavin Newsom must be recalled,” he said, referencing the amount the state will give out in gift cards.

But Rob Stutzman, who served as a spokesman for former Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, called it smart policy.

“I hope Republicans resist being critical of this,” he tweeted, noting it was Ohio’s GOP governor who first came up with the idea.

Newsom’s office said the program would be aimed at reaching people in communities hardest hit by the pandemic — mainly low-income, Black and Latino people — but it wasn’t clear if the state is pursuing any new initiatives to vaccinate those populations.

Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, an epidemiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, noted cash and prize incentives often don’t address the most important challenge of reaching poorer communities.

Surveys have shown unvaccinated Latinos are twice as likely as whites to want a vaccine but may be unable to get time off work, live far from a vaccination site, or fear they’ll be charged for a shot, she said.

“These types of strategies don’t work in sometimes our lower-income, minority populations where we intend them to work if we don’t at the same time lower those barriers — whether it’s digital or transportation or language,” Bibbins-Domingo said. “We’re at a point in the pandemic where access should not be the issue.”

Newsom pointed to a “Get Out the Vaccine” program the state is running with 70 community-based organizations. It features about 2,000 workers in vulnerable communities, encouraging their peers to make a plan to get vaccinated. Those workers will now share details of the prize money, he said.

California uses a “vaccine equity metric” to track vaccination progress that splits zip codes into four groups from least to most healthy, based on a number of factors. Nearly half of people in the least advantaged neighborhoods still haven’t been vaccinated, according to the state.

By contrast, less than a quarter of people in the most advantaged areas haven’t been vaccinated.

Among all Latinos, 57% are not yet vaccinated. That’s the highest percentage of any racial or ethnic group. State figures show 40% of white Californians are not vaccinated.

Few people trickled into the vaccination site Newsom toured before his announcement, despite the offer of three free tacos and Pepsi or Mountain Dew being served by Oaxaca on Wheels.

Evelyn Saldana, 16, a student at the school who is still learning remotely, had been alerted about the clinic by a teacher and brought her mother. They had no idea they would be eligible for gift cards and big cash prizes. They had only shown up because they had been wanting a vaccine and it was convenient.

Saldana said the prize money might motivate a reluctant friend who has been holding out and isn’t sure she wants the shot.

“I could tell her,” Saldana said. “She’d probably want to get it.”

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Sonny Gray pitched six innings of two-hit ball and the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Nationals 3-0 in seven innings on Thursday night for a split after Washington won 5-3 in the completion of a suspended game.

Trea Turner and Josh Bell hit run-scoring singles in the sixth inning for the Nationals in the finish of a game that started Wednesday night.

Gray (1-3) struck out five, walked one and required only two putouts from his outfield to complete Cincinnati’s first series win in Washington since 2015.

“The thought the whole day was challenge guys and throw seven innings,” said Gray, who threw 54 of 90 pitches for strikes and was removed partially because he took a liner to his glove on his final out.

“I think that just made the decision easy for me,” said manager David Bell, who expects Gray to be fine. “He was in a little bit of pain. I think even for a pitcher, it’s a little bit shocking to get a ball hit that hard back at you.”

Eugenio Suárez hit his 11th homer and first leadoff shot of his career. The drive came against Stephen Strasburg (1-2), who allowed all three runs and departed after a two-run fifth.

Jesse Winker singled in a run off the second-base bag and Tyler Naquin doubled inside the left field line. Gray also singled in the inning, one of five hits Strasburg allowed.

“I thought he kept us in the ballgame,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “Unfortunately, we’re out of the inning and the ball hits the base. The next guy hits the ball to left field.”

Lucas Sims worked the ninth for his third save.

Washington led 3-0 when Wednesday night’s game was suspended in middle of the fourth inning following a rain delay of 3 hours, 4 minutes.

When it resumed Thursday afternoon, Austin Voth (1-0) allowed two hits in two scoreless innings to follow the four scoreless innings Joe Ross pitched on Wednesday.

“For me, I tried to treat it like I was coming out of the bullpen,” said Voth, who has 21 starts over his big league career but none this season.

“Today kind of felt normal,” he added. “Like I was preparing for a day game. It didn’t seem too weird.”

Daniel Hudson allowed two inherited runners to score in a three-run eighth, and Brad Hand worked the ninth for his eighth save in 10 chances.

Nick Castellanos and Tucker Barnhart singled in runs for the Reds, and Kyle Farmer added a sacrifice fly. Winker had four hits.

“We didn’t quit,” Barnhart said. “We put some good at-bats together in the eighth. We just couldn’t get anything going in the ninth.”

Ross and Starlin Castro singled in runs Wednesday, and Alex Avila drew a bases-loaded walk off Jeff Hoffman (3-4), who gave up two runs, two hits and five walks in 1 1/3 innings.

TRAINERS ROOM

Reds: Hoffman, who was placed on the 10-day injured list after he left Wednesday’s game with shoulder soreness, returned to Cincinnati and was evaluated. “He has a shoulder impingement,” Bell said. “It’s not going to require surgery. He’s going to have an aggressive rehab on it and try to get back as quick as he can.”

Nationals: RHP Tanner Rainey was activated from the COVID-19 injured list and RHP Kyle McGowin was optioned to Triple-A Rochester. Rainey came on to start the eighth, allowing three runs and three singles without retiring a batter. McGowin appeared as the 27th man on the roster in the second game. … RHP Erick Fedde has been cleared to participate in baseball activities on Friday but remains on the COVID-19 injured list. “He’s missed some time,” Martinez said of Fedde, whose last start came on May 16. “We’ve got to figure out a good game plan for him to keep him healthy.”

‘BE A BALLPLAYER’

Gray helped his own cause with five infield assists, a single and a run scored while being bumped up to eighth in the lineup.

“I just tried to be a ballplayer, slide my pants up and try to play baseball,” Gray said. “It was a fun baseball game.”

A FIRST-RATE IDEA

Suarez is 4 for 12 with a walk and two homers since moving up to the leadoff spot to start the series, lifting his average 12 points to .160.

“If anything, it’s just kind of shifted his mindset a little bit,” Bell said. “Just really good swings he’s taking.

UP NEXT

Reds:: RHP Vladimir Gutiérrez makes his major league debut Friday at Wrigley Field.

Nationals: LHP Jon Lester (0-2) starts Friday against Milwaukee.

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For more AP baseball coverage: https://apnews.com/apf-Baseball and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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BOGAN GATE, Australia (AP) — At night, the floors of sheds vanish beneath carpets of scampering mice. Ceilings come alive with the sounds of scratching. One family blamed mice chewing electrical wires for their house burning down.

Vast tracts of land in Australia’s New South Wales state are being threatened by a mouse plague that the state government describes as “absolutely unprecedented.” Just how many millions of rodents have infested the agricultural plains across the state is guesswork.

“We’re at a critical point now where if we don’t significantly reduce the number of mice that are in plague proportions by spring, we are facing an absolute economic and social crisis in rural and regional New South Wales,” Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall said this month.

Bruce Barnes said he is taking a gamble by planting crops on his family farm near the central New South Wales town of Bogan Gate.

“We just sow and hope,” he said.

The risk is that the mice will maintain their numbers through the Southern Hemisphere winter and devour the wheat, barley and canola before it can be harvested.

NSW Farmers, the state’s top agricultural association, predicts the plague will wipe more than 1 billion Australian dollars ($775 million) from the value of the winter crop.

The state government has ordered 5,000 liters (1,320 gallons) of the banned poison Bromadiolone from India. The federal government regulator has yet to approve emergency applications to use the poison on the perimeters of crops. Critics fear the poison will kill not only mice but also animals that feed on them. including wedge-tail eagles and family pets.

“We’re having to go down this path because we need something that is super strength, the equivalent of napalm to just blast these mice into oblivion,” Marshall said.

The plague is a cruel blow to farmers in Australia’s most populous state who have been battered by fires, floods and pandemic disruptions in recent years, only to face the new scourge of the introduced house mouse, or Mus musculus.

The same government-commissioned advisers who have helped farmers cope with the drought, fire and floods are returning to help people deal with the stresses of mice.

The worst comes after dark, when millions of mice that had been hiding and dormant during the day become active.

By day, the crisis is less apparent. Patches of road are dotted with squashed mice from the previous night, but birds soon take the carcasses away. Haystacks are disintegrating due to ravenous rodents that have burrowed deep inside. Upending a sheet of scrap metal lying in a paddock will send a dozen mice scurrying. The sidewalks are strewn with dead mice that have eaten poisonous bait.

But a constant, both day and night, is the stench of mice urine and decaying flesh. The smell is people’s greatest gripe.

“You deal with it all day. You’re out baiting, trying your best to manage the situation, then come home and just the stench of dead mice,” said Jason Conn, a fifth generation farmer near Wellington in central New South Wales.

“They’re in the roof cavity of your house. If your house is not well sealed, they’re in bed with you. People are getting bitten in bed,” Conn said. “It doesn’t relent, that’s for sure.”

Colin Tink estimated he drowned 7,500 mice in a single night last week in a trap he set with a cattle feeding bowl full of water at his farm outside Dubbo.

“I thought I might get a couple of hundred. I didn’t think I’d get 7,500,” Tink said.

Barnes said mouse carcasses and excrement in roofs were polluting farmers’ water tanks.

“People are getting sick from the water,” he said.

The mice are already in Barnes’ hay bales. He’s battling them with zinc phosphide baits, the only legal chemical control for mice used in broad-scale agriculture in Australia. He’s hoping that winter frosts will help contain the numbers.

Farmers like Barnes endured four lean years of drought before 2020 brought a good season as well as the worst flooding that some parts of New South Wales have seen in at least 50 years. But the pandemic brought a labor drought. Fruit was left to rot on trees because foreign backpackers who provide the seasonal workforce were absent.

Plagues seemingly appear from nowhere and often vanish just as fast.

Disease and a shortage of food are thought to trigger a dramatic population crash as mice feed on themselves, devouring the sick, weak and their own offspring.

Government researcher Steve Henry, whose agency is developing strategies to reduce the impact of mice on agriculture, said it is too early to predict what damage will occur by spring.

He travels across the state holding community meetings, sometimes twice a day, to discuss the mice problem.

“People are fatigued from dealing with the mice,” Henry said.

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TORONTO (AP) — Nick Suzuki scored 59 seconds into overtime and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 on Thursday night, rebounding after blowing a three-goal lead to force Game 6 in the Original Six first-round matchup.

Cole Caufield intercepted Alex Galchenyuk’s pass in Montreal’s zone and moved in with Suzuki on a 2-on-0. Suzuki made a pass to Caufield after crossing into Toronto’s zone, got the puck back from his rookie teammate and beat Jack Campbell to the blocker side.

“Sometimes those 2-on-0s are a little bit more difficult,” Suzuki said. “We’re both capable of scoring and making plays. It was a great play by him to touch it right back.”

Joel Armia scored twice, Jesperi Kotkaniemi added a goal and Carey Price made 32 saves to help Montreal cut Toronto’s series lead to 3-2.

“Resiliency,” Price said. “It’s not easy to have the right mentality going into an overtime like that after giving up a two-goal lead in the third.”

Jake Muzzin scored twice for Toronto. Zach Hyman had a goal and Campbell stopped 26 shots.

“Any time your back’s against the wall, you push back,” Hyman said. “You saw that from them. We’ve been in that situation before and you always respond.”

The Quebec government will allow 2,500 fans into the Bell Centre on Saturday for Game 6, the first NHL crowd in Canada since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

“They will deserve that game big time,” Montreal center Phillip Danault said. “It’s going to be crazy there. It’s going to be awesome. I can’t wait to be in front of our fans. Been waiting for that all year. And here we are, Game 6 against Toronto, Saturday night at home. Can’t get any better than that.”

The Maple Leafs missed an opportunity to win a playoff series for the first time since 2004, but still have two more cracks at advancing.

The Winnipeg Jets await the winner following their sweep of Edmonton in the North Division’s other first-round series.

Kotkaniemi gave Montreal a 3-0 lead at 4:52 of the second period.

The top seed in the division during the NHL’s pandemic-truncated campaign, 18 points clear of their opponent in the standings, the Maple Leafs showed some life 1:40 later when Mitch Marner threw a puck in front from behind the goal line that Hyman slid home.

Toronto cut it to one just after its only power play ended when Muzzin blasted a point shot through a screen at 6:52 of the third.

The Maple Leafs got even with 8:06 left in regulation when Muzzin drove the net and tipped Galchenyuk’s shot through Price’s legs.

“They were much more desperate than us in the first,” Toronto star Auston Matthews said. “They jump out to a quick 2-0 lead, but I’m proud of the way that we fought back.”

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