The "All In for the Win" Illinois lottery will give out $10 million to vaccinated residents in the form of $7 million in cash prizes for adults and $3 million in scholarships for youth, all distributed through weekly drawings.
The Illinois Lottery will draw names each week beginning July 8, Gov. JB Pritzker said. The cash prizes will range from $100,000 to $1 million, he said, while children can win a Bright Start college savings plan worth $150,000 apiece.
In the first drawing on July 8, one million-dollar winner will be picked from a statewide pool. Beginning July 12 through Aug. 16, three winners of $100,000 cash prizes will be chosen every Monday.
On Aug. 12, 22 winners from the regional drawing will be picked, two in each of the 11 Restore Illinois regions drawn for $100,000 cash prizes.
The grand finale happens Aug. 26, when two million-dollar cash prizes are chosen from a statewide pool.
Anyone who gets at least one vaccine dose in Illinois is eligible to win and will be automatically entered, Pritzker said, with "no sign-up, no forms, no waiting in line."
"You did your part already, and this is a way of saying thank you," Pritzker said. "It's also our way of saying to those who haven't yet been vaccinated: please join us. Vaccines are incredibly effective. And they keep you protected, but they also make your community safer."
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Vaccinated adults are entered into the $7 million cash prize pool, which includes three $1 million jackpots and 40 $100,000 cash prizes. You are eligible if you are an Illinois resident age 18 or older and have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Illinois other than a federal facility.
Vaccinated youth are entered into a $3 million scholarship pool, which includes 20 $150,000 scholarship awards. In this case, your are eligible if you ae an Illinois resident age 12 to 17 and you received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in
Illinois other than a federal facility.
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The $150,000 prize is the equivalent of a full ride, Pritzker said, and includes tuition
and room and board, at any four-year public university in Illinois.
The announcement came weeks after Pritzker began hinting that Illinois was working on a lottery similar to ones introduced in other U.S. states as an incentive to encourage people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Pritzker said in an interview on June 3 that the funding for the lottery was allocated through state budget appropriations.
"The legislature gave us the ability through our lottery in the state to be able to offer something," he said.
