Ohio To Give Five Residents $1 Million Each In Vaccine Lottery

The state of Ohio will award five vaccinated residents $1 million each in an effort to raise vaccination percentages, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced Wednesday.

"Two weeks from tonight on May 26th, we will announce a winner of a separate drawing for adults who have received at least their first dose of the vaccine. This announcement will occur each Wednesday for five weeks, and the winner each Wednesday will receive one million dollars," DeWine said in a tweet thread Wednesday. 

The drawings will be conducted by the Ohio lottery, DeWine said. All Ohio residents over the age of 18 are eligible, so long as they have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. 

The winners will be chosen from Ohio's public voter registration database. Those who are not registered to vote but want to be included in the drawing can sign up through a website that will be made available in the upcoming weeks. 

The funds for the $5 million gifts and costs of running the drawing will come from existing federal COVID-19 relief funds, according to DeWine. He did not specify what the funds had originally been allocated for. 

"I know that some may say, 'DeWine, you're crazy! This million-dollar drawing idea of yours is a waste of money.' But truly, the real waste at this point in the pandemic — when the vaccine is readily available to anyone who wants it — is a life lost to COVID-19," DeWine tweeted Wednesday. 

DeWine also announced a separate lottery offering scholarships for those who are vaccinated but under the age of 18. This lottery will also pick one winner a week for five weeks beginning May 26.

"The winner will receive a full, four-year scholarship to our State of Ohio universities," DeWine tweeted. "This will include tuition, room and board, and books.

DeWine also announced Wednesday that the Ohio Department of Health on June 2 will lift all COVID-related health orders, "except those for nursing homes and assisted living facilities." This includes all social distancing and mask mandates, although DeWine noted individual businesses and schools can still choose to enforce their own rules.

"In fact, based upon the experiences of other states, we expect that many stores or businesses may require social distancing and masking," DeWine tweeted.

The announcements comes amid a push to get as many Ohio residents as possible vaccinated. In a statewide address, DeWine stressed the importance of vaccinations, noting that "those who are not vaccinated remain prey to the virus."

"We hope for a good summer, but we also have to be able to get through the dark days of winter safely. To do that, we need a much higher percentage of Ohioans to be vaccinated," DeWine said. He also noted that between January 1 and April 13, "Nearly 100% of hospitalizations occurred among those not vaccinated."

First published on May 12, 2021 / 7:35 PM

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