Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine Offering State Residents Lucrative Cash Incentive to Get Vaccine

Rebecca Downs | May 12, 2021 10:00 PM

On Wednesday, Gov. Mike DeWine (R-OH) announced that the state will open back up on June 2. The takeaway from the announcement, though, was the lengths the state is willing to go to incentivize people to get vaccinated, as laid out in the governor's statewide address. Starting May 26, adults who have received at least one vaccine will be entered into a weekly drawing, with a total of five drawings, to win up to $1 million. This news is merely a tease; further details will be released by the Ohio Department of Health and the Ohio Lottery Commission.

This is our time -- and, vaccines are our opportunity.

Ohio -- let’s do this! Let’s get it done. Let’s get everyone vaccinated.

Because we are Ohioans.

We are Buckeyes.

We are strong.

And we will finish the job!
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) May 12, 2021

The pool of names for the drawing will be derived from the Ohio Secretary of State’s publicly available voter registration database. 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.
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) May 12, 2021

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.

We will have further, specific details tomorrow and in the days ahead.
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) May 12, 2021

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.
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) May 12, 2021

Fear mongering, much?

The state is even incentivizing parents to get their children vaccinated. For residents under 18 who are eligible to receive the vaccine and do so, they will be entered to win a full four-years scholarship to any Ohio's state schools. It's worth nothing that the Pfizer vaccine was just approved for those 12-15 years old mere days ago.

What's happening, you ask? Ohio is 45th in college affordability, top 5 in student debt, and falling behind in vaccine delivery, so enigmatic candymaker Mike DeWine has hidden five golden ticket scholarships in pharmacies around the state pic.twitter.com/NcnsTrspzZ
— John Tannous (@TannousOTL) May 12, 2021

Ohio currently ranks 19th in vaccines, with 81.51 percent of distributed vaccines having been administered.