Five Vaccinated Ohioans Will Be Chosen At Random To Win $1 Million

Any Ohioan who has received at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine is eligible to win $1 million, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced Wednesday.

Five Ohioans will be chosen at random in five separate weekly drawings. The first drawing will be held on May 26, with four consecutive drawings held each Wednesday that follows.

“The pool of names for the drawing will be derived from the Ohio Secretary of State’s publicly available voter registration database,” Gov. Mike DeWine announced. “Further, we will make available a webpage for people to sign up for the drawings if they are not in a database we are using.”

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.

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.

“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,” the governor said.

Additional details on the incentive will be made available in weeks ahead.

Additionally, the governor announced that five people 17 years old and under will be eligible to win a full four-year scholarship if vaccinated.

On May 18, an electronic portal will be opened up for young people who have been vaccinated to be able to register.

One student will be randomly selected each Wednesday for five weeks as well, the governor announced, receiving a full scholarship — including tuition, room and board and books — to an Ohio university.