First winner of Vax-a-million in Ohio is woman

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A southwestern Ohio woman won the state’s first $1 million Vax-a-million vaccination incentive prize, while a Dayton-area teen was awarded the first full-ride college scholarship offered by the program, the state announced Wednesday night.

The winners were selected in a random drawing Monday and had their information confirmed before the formal announcement at the end of the Ohio Lottery’s Cash Explosion TV show.

The lottery announced that Abbigail Bugenske of Silverton near Cincinnati was the $1 million winner, while Joseph Costello of Englewood near Dayton was the college scholarship winner.

“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,” said Gov. Mike Dewine.

More than 2.7 million adults signed up for the $1 million prize and more than 104,000 children ages 12 to 17 entered the drawing for the college scholarship, which includes tuition, room and board, and books.

Four more $1 million and college scholarship winners will be announced each Wednesday for the next four weeks.

Dewine, a Republican, announced the program May 12 to boost lagging vaccination rates.

The Ohio Lottery conducted the first drawing Monday afternoon at its draw studio in Cleveland using a random number generator to pick the winners ahead of time, and then confirmed the eligibility of the ultimate winner.

Dewine’s program has inspired similar vaccine-incentive lotteries in Colorado, Maryland, New York state and Oregon.

In Colorado, Democratic Gov. Jared Polis said the state will have a weekly lottery for five residents to win $1 million each to incentivize COVID-19 vaccinations.