Rotunda Rumblings

Vax-a-Million and demand: Laura Hancock spoke to behavioral economists and other experts about Ohio’s $1 million giveaway to five vaccinated Ohio residents. All thought that it will lead to more vaccinations, possibility as much as 8% of the vaccine hesitant group will get shots. However, there is disagreement about whether spending $5 million on a lottery is a wise way to spend coronavirus recovery funds.

Mask off: Gov. Mike DeWine has lifted Ohio’s mask mandate for fully vaccinated people, with limited exceptions. As Jeremy Pelzer reports, the governor’s announcement follows a new federal health directive stating that fully vaccinated people don’t have to wear masks outside or in many indoor spaces and comes just days after DeWine’s statewide address saying most restrictions would be lifted June 2.

Mask on: U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision to keep masking and physical distancing requirements on the House of Representatives floor despite new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance that fully vaccinated Americans can forgo those precautions has upset Holmes County GOP Rep. Bob Gibbs, who sent Pelosi a letter on Thursday night to protest the policy. Sabrina Eaton writes that Pelosi doesn’t want to relax restrictions until all members of Congress are vaccinated, but Gibbs and a group of his fellow Republicans told Pelosi: “Let’s follow the science and get back to work.”

Latest numbers: State health officials reported 87 Ohioans died from coronavirus between last Tuesday and Friday, bringing Ohio’s overall COVID-19 death toll close to 19,528, Pelzer reports. The state reported 919 new cases on Saturday, per Kayle Remington. And on Sunday, that figure was just 618, the smallest one-day increase since August, Jane Maurice writes.