Mike DeWine defends 'Vax-a-Million' program as Ohio legislators mount effort to stop it

Gov. Mike DeWine may think the lottery is the golden ticket to ending the COVID-19 pandemic, but Ohio lawmakers from both parties disagree.

As a bipartisan group of legislators argues the program is a misuse of taxpayer funds, DeWine, a Republican, defended his “Vax-a-Million” program, which he described as “a chance for vaccinated adults to win one of five $1 million prizes and for vaccinated 12- to 17-year-olds to win one of five full-ride scholarships to any Ohio state college or university,” as a useful tool in incentivizing inoculations.