‘I’m still dreaming’: Toledo man wins Vax-A-Million drawing

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) - Ohio has a new millionaire and a student set to receive a full scholarship at one of the state’s universities after the second Vax-A-Million drawing Wednesday.

Toledo’s Jonathan Carlyle won the $1 million prize, and Zoie Vincent of Mayfield Village took home the full-ride scholarship.

“I actually missed (Gov. Mike DeWine’s) call,” said Carlyle, who works as a delivery driver for Amazon. “I was checking out from work, so I had to call him back. It’s overwhelming. I don’t know what to do. I’m still dreaming. I’ve got a lot of bills to pay, so that’s the first thing that’s going to happen.”

Carlyle said Ohio’s Vax-A-Million drawing drove him to get vaccinated. Carlyle’s sister and brother-in-law both had COVID, and his brother-in-law’s father died from the virus.

“(My sister) was on me a lot to go and get the vaccination, and that played a very significant role in me getting my vaccination,” Carlyle said during a press conference Thursday morning with Gov. DeWine. “I was putting it off a lot because I was working all the time, but I knew that I needed to get it and that I wanted to get it. When (Governor DeWine) announced Vax-a-Million, as soon as I heard that, a few days later I got the Johnson & Johnson shot.”

Three more drawings remain, scheduled for every Wednesday for the next three weeks.

More than 3.2 million Ohioans have entered the drawing to win the $1 million prize, and 132,903 Ohioans age 12 to 17 entered the drawing for a college scholarship. The number of entries in both groups increased from the previous week, with 467,320 additional adult entries and 28,518 additional student entries.

More than 5.3 million Ohioans have started the vaccination process, so not all who are eligible have entered.

Ohio Vax-a-Million is an opt-in program, meaning you are not automatically entered. It takes less than two minutes to enter online at ohiovaxamillion.com. Those without Internet access can also enter by phone at 1-833-4-ASK-ODH (1-833-427-5634).

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