What You Should Know After Illinois’ First $1M Vaccine Lottery Drawing

Illinois State officials held the first $1 million vaccine lottery drawing last week. Find out who won and when the next drawing will be held.

If this is the first you're hearing of this big money drawing in Illinois for those that are vaccinated, congratulations. There could be some big money in your future, just for protecting yourself from the COVID-19 virus.

The $1M Vaccine Lottery

In June, Governor J.B. Pritzker announced the "All In for the Win" lottery, which will give out $10 million in prize money to Illinois residents who get vaccinated against COVID-19.

The prizes will be 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. The cash prizes will range from $100,000 to $1 million. Children can win a Bright Start college savings plan worth $150,000 apiece.

The best part, you don't have to do anything to sign up for a chance to win some money. Anyone who gets at least one vaccine dose in Illinois is eligible.

Anyone who got their first dose before July 1 was eligible for the first drawing on July 8 and every drawing thereafter. The Illinois Department of Public Health will check vaccination records before each drawing.

First Round of Winners

We don't know the identity of the first big money winner. Winners can remain anonymous. We do do know that the first winner is from Chicago and has a $1 million cash prize to claim. Three people under the age of 18, from Dekalb, suburban Cook County and Chicago, won $150,000 in scholarship money.

The next drawing dates are:

July 19 and 26 - three winners of $100,000

August 2, 9 and 16 - three winners of $100,000

August 12 -  twenty-two winners of $100,000

August 26 - one winner of $1,000,000

Also on August 26, will be the next scholarship drawing. There will be seventeen winners of $150,000.

[H/T NBC Chicago]