Kentucky Lottery offers free shot of 225,000 $ in exchange for COVID vaccine
Publication date: May 11, 2021, 09: 01 hrs.
Last updated: May 11, 2021, 09: 01 h.
The Kentucky Lottery wants to give people who get COVID - the 19th vaccine - a chance to win up to $ 225, 000.
Through May 21 or while supplies last, the sweepstakes is teaming up with participating Walmart and Kroger locations to give adults a free game coupon for 1 $ upcoming Cash Ball 225 drawing.
Persons receiving the first or second dose can apply for a free game.
Cash Ball 225 is a daily Kentucky lottery game that is played similar to PowerBall or Mega Millions. However, players only have to pick four numbers from 1 to 35 and "Cash Ball" in a separate pool of numbers from 1 to 25.
The winning numbers can be worth up to $ 225, 000.
Not only will this encourage Kentuckians to get the life-saving COVID - 19 vaccine, it gives them a chance " Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said Monday. "You get a chance for hope, and then you get a chance to win $ 225, 000."
A random number generator selects the winning numbers 11 pm ET each day.
Kentucky sets goal at 2.5 million shots
The Kentucky Lottery promotion is just one way the state is trying to meet the vaccination goal Beshear set last month, which he said would eliminate most of COVID - 19.
Those restrictions, including capacity and social distance restrictions for many interiors, will be lifted, the governor said, when Kentucky has 2.5 million residents who have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
To date, nearly 1.9 million Kentucky residents have received one vaccine. The lottery, Beshear said, offers up to 225, free games.
Places to play against COVID
While many gaming sites, including casinos and racetracks, have been the site of temporary vaccination clinics, the Kentucky Lottery campaign appears to be the first to actually tie gaming to getting a chance.
Last month, Hollywood Casino in Charles Town Races, West Virginia, announced it was expanding its vaccine clinic to people living outside the U.S. Mountain State. The casino and track in far eastern West Virginia is drawing customers from Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C.
In New York, Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens became a vaccination site in January. So did Belmont Park, another NYRA track, in January. According to the New York City Department of Health, the state-run Aqueduct clinic remains open and is now accepting visitors.
Across the country, Golden Gate Fields served as a vaccination site for Alameda County, California. The site was temporarily closed for several hours in March when animal rights protesters staged an occupation at the Stronach Club Speedway.
And before he hosted the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs partnered with a local healthcare provider to host a three-day pop-up clinic at the Louisville track.
