The opening winners of Ohio’s so-called Vax-a-Million draw have been revealed.
Ohio governor Mike DeWine introduced the lottery in early May to encourage people to get Covid-19 vaccinations. The creative campaign includes prizes of $1 million per week and full scholarships. It has also increased the public profile of Republican DeWine, a year ahead of his attempt at re-election.
More than two million adults and 100,000-plus students reportedly registered for the cash draw and scholarship giveaways, respectively.
“We knew that for us to really get out of this pandemic and to move forward, we needed to have more people vaccinated, and we made the decision to try this. I’m more than happy – very, very happy – with the results,” said DeWine.
“We’re excited that this has inspired so many Ohioans to get vaccinated, and we’re thrilled to announce the winners of the first round of drawings.”
Silverton resident Abbigail Bugenske won the opening allotment of $1 million, while Englewood student Joseph Costello claimed the college scholarship. “Congrats, Joseph. You just won a full-ride college scholarship. If you’re between 12 and 17 years old and had at least one dose of the vaccine, you could be next,” added DeWine.
He was joined by several other Ohio residents in publicly celebrating the wins. “My friend texted me and said, ‘oh my goodness, somebody from Silverton just won the Vax-a-Million’,” said Silverton’s Colleen Noble.
“I think that it is really nice that someone in my community won the Vax-a-Million. “It’s so exciting! I love it. I love it for Silverton because I think we have a great neighbourhood.”
Hamilton County resident Steve Williams added: “I went outside to trim the yard and she came running out and said they won from here. And I thought, ‘oh, my goodness’. Unbelievable. Great for this area.
” Several more Ohio Vax-a-Million winners will be announced in the coming weeks. This is not the Midwestern state’s first interaction with popular lotteries and big jackpots.
Numerous Ohio entities and individuals have been among the Mega Millions results since the turn of the century.
As recently as December 2019, the Great Hope Trust of Ohio won $375 million in the Mega Millions draw. A year prior, $142 million was won by the ABC XYZ Trust, via a ticket bought in Moraine, Ohio.
In 2015, the Lucky Duck Passive Trust of Columbus, Ohio, claimed – $202 million. Two years before that, a formal office pool – or syndicate – of 14 people from Westlake, Ohio, clinched $41 million. Another syndicate, comprising 22 Jefferson, Ohio, co-workers, won $99 million in August 2011.
The Gravina Island Trust in Broadview Heights, Ohio, closed the decade with a $25 million win in November 2010. There were three winning tickets in on 1 May 2009. Each winner pocketed $75.6 million each).
The Ross County Beneficiary Trust of Chillicothe, Ohio, was one of these, alongside Anneliese Hansen and Brian Cabaud of California and Joe Denette of Virginia.
The year 2008 brought Ohio three individual winners – $207 million for the Piqua 207 Group; $15 million for Andrick Humphreys of Portsmouth; and $196 million for the Anthony Trust from Amelia.
