COLUMBUS, Ohio — The state is doubling the previously announced amount of money intended for Ohio's Vax-2-School program to $2 million worth of prizes, the Ohio Department of Health announced Friday.
Last month, Governor Mike DeWine announced the program as part of a statewide effort to get more people vaccinated. The announcement came amid reports of rising hospitalizations in Ohioans under the age of 50 in recent months.
Under the updated program, all vaccinated Ohioans between the ages of 12 and 25 are eligible to receive one of 150, $10,000 scholarships, or one of five $100,000 grand prize scholarships. The scholarships can be applied to college, career or technical education training courses.
A portion of that funding will come from COVID-19 relief funds allocated to the state.
Additionally, Department of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said, pending FDA authorization, the program will also be expanded to include people ages 5 to 25.
"In anticipation of a COVID-19 vaccine being authorized for children in this age bracket in the mere future, we've decided to broaden the Ohio Vax-2-School program to include this age group, should they become eligible for the vaccines," said Vanderhoff.
Beginning Oct. 4, eligible Ohioans can enter to win the lottery by clicking here, or by calling 1-833-427-5634. If the vaccine is authorized for a younger age group, the website will update accordingly, Ohio Lottery officials said.
The program comes as DeWine says the first-dose vaccination rate among Ohioans ages 12 to 25 is just 46% in the state. In many communities, DeWine said that percentage is much lower.
Nearly all of the approximately 18,600 people hospitalized with COVID-19 this year were not fully vaccinated, the governor said last month.
“We are hopeful that the $2 million in scholarship prizes will provide an incentive, much like Vax-a-Million did, to help speed up the vaccination timeline for Ohioans,” explained Dr. Vanderhoff.
You can watch Friday's briefing in the player below:
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