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Despite a significant portion of the U.S. population having received at least one vaccine dose, many individuals remain hesitant to get vaccinated. Common concerns include potential side effects after the second shot and unfounded conspiracy theories. To encourage vaccination uptake, several states, including Ohio, have introduced incentive programs such as lotteries. This week marked the first lucky winner
Ohio’s “Vax-a-Million” lottery offers a chance for Ohio residents who have been vaccinated to win a million-dollar prize sponsored by the Ohio Department of Health. The inaugural winner of this lottery was 22-year-old Abbey Bugenske from Cincinnati. She was informed of her win by Ohio Governor, Mike DeWine, during her drive to Cleveland.
Upon receiving the news, Bugenske expressed her excitement, stating, “I was screaming enough that my parents thought I was crying and that something was wrong. And when I started yelling that I won $1 million and was going to be a millionaire, they told me to calm down and make sure it wasn’t a prank.”
Ohio resident Abbey Bugenske woke up Wednesday wishing for a new car. Before the day ended, she’d have enough money to purchase the most expensive car on the lot.https://t.co/NRwzjlJGij
— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) May 27, 2021
Bugenske intends to use part of her winnings to buy a new car and plans to invest or donate the remaining amount to local charities. She emphasized that even without winning the prize, she would have chosen to get vaccinated anyway.
“Vaccines have always been in my medical history. It was a pretty easy decision to go and get the vaccine as fast as I could,” she said. “I would encourage anyone to get the vaccine. If winning $1 million isn’t enough, I don’t know what would be.”
