Vax-a-million in Ohio

On May 18, news came out that Ohio is holding a Vax-a-million lottery for Ohio’s residents. Five people will get $1 million for getting the vaccine. Five separate weekly drawings of the lottery will take place.

To be eligible to win the lottery, you need to be an Ohio resident and at least 18 years of age. They also must have at least one dose of the vaccine. If you were vaccinated in another state you can still register as long as you are a Ohio resident. There are even prices for younger people. Five vaccinated Ohio residents ages 12 to 17 will be chosen at random to win a full four-year scholarship. The scholarship includes tuition, room and board and books at any Ohio university. 

The Ohio Department of Health will be the sponsoring agency for the drawings, and the Ohio Lottery will conduct them. Winners will need to verify their vaccination status and will be asked to show their vaccination card, showing at least one dose. Up to 100 alternative names would be drawn if the winner cannot be verified as vaccinated. The first five winners will be announced May 26, with four winners announced each Wednesday that follows. The drawings will be on the next five Mondays. The winners will be announced on the following Wednesday. The drawing dates are May 26, June 2, June 9, June 16, and June 23. 

The first winner was announced on Wednesday, May 26, Joseph Costello, 14 years old, of Englewood won a full ride to any Ohio State University. Another winner, Abbigail Bugenske, of Silverton, Hamilton County, won the windfall also on Wednesday. Her name was picked from more than 2.7 million entrants. 

About 2,758,470 adults in Ohio registered for the first Vax-a-million drawing and 104,386 kids ages from 12-17 have registered. The mega millions lottery drawing boasts odds of 302,575,350 to 1 that you win the lottery. The money is coming from existing federal coronavirus relief funds. Some of the people that want to win won’t because they won’t keep the names anonymous. If you try and win the regular lottery your name can remain anonymous but if you try to win the Vax-a-million it will not remain anonymous. 

Ohio residents are very excited about the new Vax-a-million lottery. It is pushing many people to get at least one dose of the vaccine and is bringing them one step closer to normalcy or at least a sense of it.