COLUMBUS — The state that launched the movement to offer millions of dollars in incentives to boost vaccination rates concluded its program Wednesday night still unable to crack the 50% vaccination threshold.
About 5.5 million people in Ohio, or about 47% of the population, have received at least one shot of the vaccine.
The winners of the fifth and final Vax-a-Million lottery drawings were announced Wednesday.
Congratulations, Esperanza! You are our final Vax-a-Million – $1 million winner! Thanks for doing your part and getting vaccinated. (Photo by Kathleen Perez) pic.twitter.com/O70OEll66h
— Mike DeWine (@MikeDeWine) June 23, 2021
Esperanza Diaz from Cincinnati won the $1 million prize and Sydney Daum from Brecksville won the full-ride college scholarship, including four years tuition, books, and room and board at an Ohio public university or college.
Congratulations, Sydney! You are the final Vax-a-Million scholarship winner! Thanks for getting vaccinated! pic.twitter.com/8z8wclNr0s
— Mike DeWine (@MikeDeWine) June 24, 2021
The winners were selected in the drawing conducted by the Ohio Lottery and overseen by the Ohio Auditor of State on Monday.
The state reported that 3.47 million Ohioans entered the drawing for the cash prize and 154,889 Ohioans age 12 to 17 entered to the scholarship drawing.
More than 565,000 Ohioans have started the vaccination process since May 13, the day after Gov. Mike DeWine announced the incentive program during a statewide address.
Initial jobless claims decline
The number of Ohio workers who filed initial claims for unemployment benefits last week was lower than the week before though a high number of Ohioans remain unemployed despite the claims of employers that they are struggling to find workers to fill open positions.
Ohioans filed 12,953 initial traditional unemployment claims and 3,274 Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claims during the week that ended June 19 last week, which was 16.6% lower than the previous week, according to data released Thursday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
A total of 435,441 workers filed claims for continued traditional and PUA benefits, a 3.3% decline from the week before.
Nationally, unemployment claims fell slightly to 411,000 as the job market slowly heals, though thousands of workers are still dealing with layoffs or remain on the sidelines.
The unemployment rate in Ohio increased from 4.7% in April to 5.0% in May, the sate reported earlier this week.