COVID-19 vaccine lotteries in the USA

Strangely enough, there’s never been a flu shot lottery or one for Ebola. What a strategy to incentivize people who don’t want to get a COVID-19 vaccine but need the money. Simply said, things are getting weird.

The first vaccine lotteries began in early June of 2012 and are now happening in Arkansas, California, Delaware, Maryland, New York, Oregon, West Virginia, and many other states are not too far from tagging along in this eerie game of chance. One woman residing in Ohio has already won 1.5 million dollars by entering the lottery. Some states are even offering full scholarships to any individual of 18+ that wins.

How do vaccine lotteries work?

The first step is, of course, receiving the COVID-19 vaccine through any company that can provide legal documentation (Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson). There’s also a process of registration and different winnings that one can apply for. Every region has its own tweaks, and some enter you in automatically upon vaccination. But here is an example for the state of Ohio:

Any vaccinated individual of 12+ years can register on a specific website —the one for Ohio is Ohiovaxamillion.

Adult registration allows for an opportunity for a 1 million dollar prize. Ages 12 - 17 have a chance to win a scholarship available for them upon attending the school of the lotteries choosing.

The website requires the following information:

• Full name
• Phone number
  
• Birth date
  
• Where you received the vaccine
• Agree to share information with ODH (Ohio Department of Health) information 

Those who cannot sign up to participate on their device can call 1-833-4-ASK-ODG, and the representatives will register for you. Just a simple, dystopic process to a not-so-regular lottery game. The oddest factor is that no one has a right to remain anonymous, and your name will be announced loud and clear for all to hear on TV and social media. If you had plans to put that money in a trust fund - you can’t do that either.

The moment you register, your information details will generate a random number which will be randomly chosen during the lottery game. Once that happens, the ODH will take some time to process your information and verify it before your prize is announced.

How will you know? Well, don’t worry, if you don’t see it on TV - they’ll call you!

34% + 7% of the million dollars will be taxed, so technically, no one is getting the entire share. The best you’re walking out with is one five hundred ninety thousand dollars. And lastly - take a guess who’s funding the winnings: Bingo - the taxpayer’s money.

Lottery vaccine scams

If you choose to participate in the vaccine lottery, at least be aware of the innovative scams going around. Each state will issue official rules for the lottery and explain how they will notify you. Read the terms and conditions before you give into any thrilling notifications. Some will attempt to collect money from you, while others will gather your personal information for identity theft.

Verdict

Free junk food, alcohol, and now free money! This nefarious vaccine lottery may just be the peak of gambling news. The question is whether there was an alternative incentive behind conducting this lottery, or is it truly to help individuals who humbly obeyed the government? As great as it would be to believe that this is yet another hoax - it isn’t.

Without a shadow of a doubt, this is just the beginning of coercing people into certain situations that cannot yet be strictly regulated. In other words - level one activated. It’s a distribution of disproportionate amounts of money for a dozen + individuals per state. Is this the appropriate move considering the current state of the world? And what’s next - the microchip lottery? But on the bright side, while this is all happening, it wouldn’t be the worst idea to take advantage of the crooked companies’ stocks.