Ohio Gov. Announces That Residents Can Win $1 Million by Getting Vaccinated

Last updated on May 14th, 2021 at 11:14 pm

For a few months, there was a mad rush of Americans looking to get vaccinated. And for them, it was luck of the draw, waiting online for hours to make appointments.

But now vaccines are readily available. And states have moved to convincing hesitant people to get inoculated. Some governors like West Virginia‘s Jim Justice have offered savings bonds.

But Ohio’s Mike DeWine is taking that idea to the next level. On Wednesday, the Republican announced that the state will be giving away $1 million dollars to a lucky vaccinated resident on 5 separate occasions.

To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.

The governor took to Twitter, writing, “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 also explained why he felt this was a necessary step for the state and where the cash would be coming from. “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,” he wrote. 

The Governor closed, “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.”

Todd Neikirk

Todd Neikirk is a New Jersey based politics and technology writer. His work has been featured in psfk.com, foxsports.com and hillreporter.com. He enjoys sports, politics, comic books and spending time at the shore with his family.