Adding an incentive to get vaccinated, Gov. Mike DeWine announced that vaccinated Ohio adults will have five chances to win $1 million.
Drawings for winners will be held for five weeks beginning on May 26 and the four Wednesdays that follow.
Ohioans have until Sunday, June 6 at 11:59 p.m. to register for the third Vax-a-Million lottery drawing.
If you registered before the first drawing, you do not need to enter again.
The winner of both the college scholarship and the $1 million will be announced Wednesday.
For last week’s drawing, 2021, 3,225,789 Ohioans entered the drawing to win $1 million prize, and 132,903 Ohioans age 12 to 17 entered to the drawing for a college scholarship, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
>> Second Vax-A-Million winners say drawing influenced their decision to get vaccinated
HOW TO WIN:
- To be eligible to win, you must be at least 18 years of age or older on the day of the drawing. You must be an Ohio resident. And, you must be vaccinated before the drawing.
- You must opt-in to participate by registering at www.ohiovaxamillion.com.
- The Ohio Department of Health will be the sponsoring agency for the drawings, and the Ohio Lottery will conduct them. The money will come from existing federal Coronavirus Relief Funds that was already sent to the ODH to use.
“I know that some may say, ‘DeWine, you’re crazy! This million-dollar drawing idea of yours is a waste of money’,” DeWine said in his statewide address Wednesday. “But truly, the real waste at this point in the pandemic -- when the vaccine is readily available to anyone who want it -- is a life lost to COVID-19.”
DeWine also announced that one person age 12 to 17 will be selected to win a full, four-year scholarship to any of the state’s universities. It will include tuition, room-and-board and books, he said.
HOW TO REGISTER:
- Everyone who wants to participate must opt-in by entering on the www.ohiovaxamillion.com or 1-833-4-ASK-ODH. “This will be an opt-in program only,” ODH Director Stephanie McCloud said. This is a change from when the program was first announced. The website launched on Tuesday, May 18.
- As long as you are a permanent Ohio resident, regardless of what state or location you received your vaccine, you will be eligible to win.
- By registering for the drawings you are giving the Ohio Department of Health the right to obtain health information regarding your vaccination, McCloud said.
- Each entrant will be assigned a number and the drawings will be conducted by using a computerized random number generator.
- You will not be able to remain anonymous if you are selected as a winner.
- To be eligible for the third week’s drawing participants must register by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, June 6. The first week’s drawing will happen on Monday, June 1 and a verification process will be used to make sure the person has been vaccinated that was drawn. The third week’s winner will be announced on Wednesday during the Ohio Lottery’s time on WHIO-TV. This process will continue for five weeks.
- There will be up to 100 alternate winners selected in the event the first winner is not able to be verified as a winner.
- The $1 million winners will receive a lump-sum payment and will be responsible for taking taxes out. The winners will receive at 1099 tax form to file with next year’s taxes.
HAVING TROUBLE REGISTERING?
If an Ohioan is having difficulty accessing ohiovaxamillion.com, please try the following, according to the state:
- Refresh your page. If you visited the website before it went live, you may need to refresh the page to load the current website.
- Clear your cache in your browsing history. If you visited the website before it went live, your browser may be loading a previous version of the website. Clearing your cache will force your web browser to load the current version of the website.
- Update your web browser. Older web browsers may have difficulty loading ohiovaxamillion.com and its security features designed to keep your personal information safe. Updating your web browser to the newest version will not only help you load ohiovaxamillion.com properly, but it will also give you the most up to date security features to protect your computer or device, as well as your personal information.
Cox Media Group
