DeWine: State hopes to announce additional incentives in next few days

Gov. Mike DeWine said the state hopes to announce additional incentives and prizes in the next few days surrounding vaccinations.

”Stay tuned,” DeWine said.

DeWine said the state has been working with the private sector to come up with additional incentive programs for people in the state.

The announcement comes as the two Vax-A-Million winners from the week three drawings joined the Governor’s news conference Thursday morning.

>>Ohio announces third Vax-A-Million winners

On Wednesday, Mark Cline, of Richwood in Union County, was announced as the winner of $1 million. Sara Afaneh, of Sheffield Lake in Lorain County, was announced as the winner of the full-ride scholarship.

>>Ohio’s Vax-A-Million lottery: How can you win?

“It was pretty surreal from the moment we looked out and saw you on our doorstep,” Cline said.  “It’s been really exciting.”

Afaneh said her mother was the person to inform her that she won the scholarship. “It was very exciting.  Surreal for sure,” Afaneh said.

Afaneh, 14, said she hasn’t really looked into colleges yet.

Wednesday’s drawing was the third of five for $1 million in cash and a full-ride scholarship to any state university or college. Two more drawings will be held on the next two Mondays, followed by their formal announcements on the following Wednesdays.

>> Englewood teen reacts to winning Vax-A-Million scholarship; gets visit from Gov. DeWine

Those who have opted in to the drawing previously are automatically entered in the remaining drawings.

>>Kentucky launches COVID-19 vaccine lottery with $1 million prizes, scholarship opportunities

The following announcements were made today:

• Over the weekend, Ohio reached a benchmark of 50 cases per 100,000 people when Ohio got to 49.5 cases per 100,000 Saturday. The number has continued to drop and now is at 39.1 cases per 100,000 people.
• ”We’re moving and it‘s consistent throughout the state,” Gov. Mike DeWine said. “The threat of COVID is still out there.”
• DeWine also showed new data that shows every county is below the high instance status, which the CDC sets at 100 cases per 100,000 people. The highest occurrence is in Lawrence County, where cases are at 77 per 100,000 people.
• The Delta COVID variant (Indian variant) only accounts for less than one percent of the cases in the state of Ohio, Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said. It accounts for about six percent nationwide.

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