Six lucky Kentuckians have won the state’s first vaccine sweepstakes.
Patricia Short of Lexington was the first person in Kentucky to win a million dollars in the state’s vaccine lottery.
“We are firm believers that we have to do it – please get vaccinated. Our kids have got to be vaccinated, too, or it’s not going to work,” Short said in a press release.
Coincidentally, LEX 18 reported on Short back in January when she was struggling to receive unemployment after losing jobs as a gig worker. Short told Lex 18 she waited for months to hear from the unemployment office, and was sleeping on a friend’s floor unable to afford a place of her own.
On Thursday, Short said she was still numb from the surprise, and she encouraged others to get vaccinated and sign up for the two remaining drawings in late July and August.
“Y’all get vaccinated, that’s the important thing, register and you can win this too,” Short said.
Five young adults also won full scholarships, including room-and-board, tuition, and books, to any public university, college, trade or technical school in the state.
Jalen Crudup of Elizabethtown said he was thankful his mother had signed up for the sweepstakes.
“I would like to encourage everyone to get vaccinated,” he said.
Kentuckians still have two more chances to win a million dollars, and 10 more people ages 12 to 17 are eligible for scholarships.
Already more than 35,000 have signed up for the next drawings July 29 and Aug. 26. That's in addition to the 608,000 that signed up before the first drawing. To be eligible, residents need to have at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Nearly 2.2 million Kentuckians have received at least one dose of the vaccine — 49% of the state’s population, according to the state’s vaccine dashboard.
