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Vaccination lottery kicks off

Drawings being held twice a week until June 29
June 4, 2021

With a press of a button May 31, Gov. John Carney kicked off Delaware's first vaccination lottery.

“This randomizer ensures that everything is done randomly,” he said the next day during his weekly press conference.

Residents vaccinated in Delaware between May 25 and June 29 are automatically entered in the lottery that holds drawings twice a week until June 29. There are two drawings held at 2:30 p.m., each Monday and Friday – one for children 12-17 years old, and another for those 18 and older. Winners are contacted by state officials, Carney said, and are kept anonymous if they so choose.

On Monday, one adult won $5,000, and another netted a luxury-suite package for 25 at a Blue Rocks game. The 12-17 set has a chance to win a full scholarship to University of Delaware, Delaware State University or another state college. Other prizes include tickets to Firefly, state park passes, and tickets to Funland. “Those are some good incentives,” Carney said.

A person can only win once, though, and the prizes are not transferable. If a winner does not want the prize, they cannot select another, and their name is removed from the lottery.

Residents who got their vaccines earlier this year also have a chance at prizes.

A grand prize drawing for a top payout of $302,000 will include everyone on June 30. Two winners will each get a four-digit license plate during the drawing.

Delaware residents who have been vaccinated can also get a few perks from area businesses. Locally, the Milton Theatre is offering two free tickets to any show; Snyder's Candy in Rehoboth Beach is offering a free truffle with all purchases; SEED eatery on Route 1 is offering 15 percent off purchases; and Pet Wants Rehoboth Beach is offering 25 percent off a single item.

“The purpose is win-win,” Carney said. “It is an opportunity to encourage people to go out to the small businesses that were affected so negatively during COVID-19. It rewards you for being vaccinated and gives you a good incentive.”

The second raffle will be held at 2:30 p.m., Friday, June 4.

Smaller vaccination events offered

As demand for vaccinations dies down, so have the mass vaccination events held throughout the state earlier this year.

“Right now we have to go to communities,” said AJ Schall, director of Delaware Emergency Management Agency. “If for some reason the demand changes, we'll definitely turn that option back on.”

In Dewey Beach, a vaccination event is planned for 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday, June 5, at The Starboard.

Carney said mass vaccination events at Dover International Speedway resulted in about 15,000 vaccinations over the course of a weekend. On June 2, he said, the state was just short of the 17,000 vaccinations needed to reach its goal of 70 percent of the population vaccinated. However, Carney would not commit that reaching the 70 percent number would end the state of emergency that has been renewed every month for more than a year now.

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