COLUMBUS, Ohio — The winners of the second week of Ohio's Vax-a-Million lottery were announced on Wednesday. Toledo's Jonathan Carlyle was the winner of the second $1 million prize as his name was drawn out of 3,225,789 entries.
Mayfield Village's Zoie Vincent won't have to worry about paying for her college education. She won a full-ride college scholarship in the contest for those ages 12-17, featuring four years tuition, books, and room and board at an Ohio public university or college. Zoie's name was drawn from a pool of 132,903 entries.
RELATED: Mayfield High School principal congratulates Zoie Vincent on winning 'Vax-a-Million' scholarship
“I am pleased that leading into the holiday weekend, data continued to show that our Ohio Vax-a-Million promotion continued to increase COVID-19 vaccinations compared to the period before the promotion announcement,” said Ohio Governor Mike DeWine in a statement following the drawing. “The vaccine remains our most powerful tool to fight the virus and for Ohioans to protect themselves and others. I encourage anyone considering getting the vaccine to not delay and take advantage of both vaccination opportunities and the Ohio Vax-a-Million promotion.”
DeWine also congratulated Carlyle on Twitter. "Congratulations, Jonathan! You just won a million dollars! Thank you for getting vaccinated."
Last week, Abbigail Bugenske of Silverton in Hamilton County captured the first million-dollar prize. She is originally from Shaker Heights, graduating from the high school in 2016. The first winner of the college scholarship award was Joseph Costello of Englewood in Montgomery County.
The second drawing was held Monday at the Ohio Lottery’s studio in Cleveland using a “random number generator” and observed by a representative of the Ohio Auditor of State. The reason the drawing isn't held live is so state officials have time to verify the winner's information -- including proof of vaccination -- before revealing the results.
The next three winners will be announced on the following dates:
- June 9
- June 16
- June 23
The entry period for the next Ohio Vax-a-Million drawing ends June 6, 2021 at 11:59:59 p.m. To enter, you must have at least one COVID vaccine and enter HERE. You only need to enter once to be considered for all five drawings. Duplicate entries will be removed.
Here's how the drawing works: Each person who enters is assigned a unique number. A computer then randomly picks one of those numbers as the winner, according Ohio Lottery Director Pat McDonald.
The 3,225,789 entries is out of the 5.32 million Ohioans who have begun the process of receiving the vaccine. That means the odds of winning are relatively much better than the Mega Millions lottery, which carries winning odds of 1-in-302-million.
Still, you'd have a better chance at getting struck by lightning, with 1-in-15,300 odds, according to the National Weather Service. Your odds of winning the Vax-a-Million prize are more on par with getting dealt a specific royal flush in poker, with odds of 1-in-2.6-million hands according to Bicycle Cards.
More Vax-a-Million coverage:
- The effectiveness of vaccine incentives like 'Vax-a-Million'
- Hope to win Vax-a-Million? Here are your odds, what to expect, and what to do first if you win
- WATCH | Meet the first Vax-a-Million winners in Ohio's COVID vaccine lottery: 'I still can't believe it'
- The Vax-a-Million model: Mike Polk Jr. on other ways we can help improve Ohio