Amazon driver wins $1million prize for getting vaccinated

‘I don’t know how to describe it, this is awesome,’ says Toledo resident

Vax-A-Million winner Jonathan Carlyle (Ohio governor Mike DeWine/Facebook)

A delivery driver for Amazon has described winning a million dollars as “overwhelming”, after becoming the latest resident of Ohio to win in the state’s Vax-A-Million lottery.

The draw, which is part of a Covid vaccination initiative, has so far seen a handful of Ohio residents win a weekly prize of $1m (£708,655), or a university scholarship.

Jonathan Carlyle told WTVG he was “checking out from work” when he had a phone call from Ohio governor Mike DeWine, a Republican, on Wednesday.

“I actually missed the call,” said the Amazon delivery driver. “I was checking out from work, so I had to call him back. It’s overwhelming. I don’t know what to do”.

Mr Carlyle continued: “I’m still dreaming. I’ve got a lot of bills to pay. So that’s the first thing that’s going to happen. I don’t know how to describe it, this is awesome”.

Also on Wednesday, Zoie Vincent won a four year scholarship to any university of her choosing, according to WTVG.

It follows the announcement of the first Vax-A-Million winners last week, 22 year-old Abbey Bugenske and 24-year-old Joseph Costello.

“I was screaming enough that my parents thought I was crying and that something was wrong,” Ms Bugenske told NBC News.

“And when I started yelling that I won $1m and was going to be a millionaire, they told me to calm down and make sure it wasn't a prank.”

There are three further Vax-A-Million draws, which over 3.2 million Ohioans have entered in a bid to win the $1m prize, and over 130,000 entering for a college scholarship.

Ohio residents are not automatically entered into the draw, and must opt-in. Over 5 million have received a vaccine in the state.