State hands out final $1M vax lottery prizes

The remaining two $1 million jackpots have been awarded to vaccinated residents of northwest suburban Rolling Meadows and downstate Bloomington in the final drawing of Illinois’ vaccine lottery.

The prizes were among the final winnings announced Friday as part of the state’s effort to get more COVID-19 vaccine shots into arms. Winners, who were actually chosen Thursday, were notified that day by the Illinois Department of Public Health, though state officials still recommend Illinoisans in those cities watch for a call from (312) 8143524, an email from DPH.communications@illinois.gov or both.

The winners will have seven days to claim their prizes before being guided through the claims process by the Illinois Lottery. Should they choose to go public, their names will be announced in eight days.

So far, all lottery winners have decided to remain anonymous.

Over the seven-week run of the “All in for the Win” lottery, state officials handed out three $1 million cash prizes and 40 smaller purses of $100,000 to adults. In addition to the total of $7 million in cash prizes, another $3 million in scholarships were doled out.

Over the course of the lottery’s nine drawings, the winnings were scattered fairly evenly across the state.

A Chicagoan won the first $1 million jackpot awarded July 8, but Thursday’s draw sent $1 million prizes to residents of the suburbs and downstate.

Chicagoans also picked up eight of the $100,000 prizes, suburban residents won 15, and downstaters took home 17.

Twenty vaccinated youth, between the ages of 12 and 17, received $150,000 scholarships. Three received their prizes in July, while the rest were awarded Thursday.