Ohio Vax-a-Million announces first lottery winners [Video]

• Ohio launched its Vax-a-Million program earlier in the month to entice more residents to get vaccinated amid the lagging rates.
• Around 2.7 million entered the lottery, which will award five adult winners $1 million each and a college scholarship for five students.
• The first winners announced on Wednesday were a southwestern Ohio woman and a Dayton-area teen.

Ohio has announced the first winners of its Vax-a-Million lottery on Wednesday night. One million dollars was awarded to Abbigail Bugenske of Silverton near Cincinnati while Joseph Costello of Englewood near Dayton got a full-ride college scholarship.

The winners were randomly drawn on Monday and confirmed before the formal announcement at the end of the Ohio Lottery’s Cash Explosion TV show.

Over 2.7 million adults signed up for the $1-million prizes and over 104,000 children ages 12 to 17 entered the lottery for the college scholarship, which includes tuition, books, and room and board.

There will be four more drawings, with the $1 million and college scholarship winners announced each Wednesday for the next four weeks.

Gov. Mike DeWine (R), who announced the program on May 12, expressed his excitement that the lottery “inspired so many Ohioans to get vaccinated.”

The Vax-a-Million lottery was launched as a vaccination incentive program that would help boost lagging rates.

The governor said at the time that some may criticize him for “wasting money,” but he countered that the real waste “is a life lost to COVID-19” when the vaccine is already available.

According to an Associated Press analysis, the program seemed to work: the number of Ohio residents aged 16 and older who received their initial COVID-19 vaccine jumped 33% in the week after the state announced Vax-a-Million.

However, vaccination rates are still well below figures from earlier in April and March.

As of Monday, over 5.2 million people in Ohio or about 45% have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Around 4.6 million people (39%) are fully vaccinated. Meanwhile, over 165 million Americans, or nearly 50% of the nationwide population, have received at least one dose. Over 131 million, or nearly 40%, are fully vaccinated.

Permanent Ohio residents who have received at least one dose of the vaccine are eligible to enter the lottery. Hopefuls must register via the Vax-a-Million website or by phone. Teens can register themselves but their eligibility must be verified by parents or legal guardians. New entries are still accepted until just before midnight on Sunday.

Entrants who don’t win in the earlier rounds are still eligible for the next drawings.

Similar vaccine-incentive lotteries have since been launched in New York state, Colorado, Maryland, and Oregon.

Source: Aol.com