Governor Mike DeWine recently announced a new contest called the “Vax-a-Million,” a lottery based incentive to urge people to get their COVID-10 vaccine. Over the course of five weeks, five total winners will be drawn by the state who will be rewarded with $1 million once they prove that they have been fully vaccinated.
Ever since this contest was announced, the vaccination rate has actually increased quite a bit. But before you get too excited, here’s a few things to keep in mind in case you really are one of those lucky five. Geoff Kunkler of Carlisle, Patchen, and Murphy claims that almost half of the lottery amount ends up going to taxes. And whatever is left, most winners blow it up in days.
"The stats are not good with what lottery winners do with their money,” he said. “A lot of them ended up blowing through it pretty quick, fast forward a few years and the money's gone.”
Take note that the Ohio Lottery Commision requires all winners to claim prizes publicly, meaning everyone will know you won and there's even some fine print to suggest that your likeness can be used for promotional material for the lottery.
All this to say Vax-a-million is a great opportunity that comes with a greater chance to win but it doesn't come without disclaimers.
So, how do you enter? There are two ways to do so:
- Visit www.OhioVaxAMillion.com and enter through the website
- Call the Ohio Department of Health call center at 1-833-4-ASK-ODH (1-833-427-5634)
Hurry, because the first drawing is on May 26.