(WWJ) -- Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says the MI Shot To Win Sweepstakes, the state’s lottery-style vaccine incentive program that officially drew to a close on Monday, was an “outstanding success.”
Whitmer and other state officials on Monday announced the remaining winners in the sweepstakes, including the winner of the $2 million grand prize. In total, the state gave out more than $5 million in cash prizes and nearly $500,000 worth of college scholarships to those who have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
The MI Shot To Win Sweepstakes was announced back on July 1, and Whitmer says the program helped increase Michigan’s COVID-19 vaccination rate from 61% to 63%, inching closer to the state’s goal of having 70% of eligible Michiganders vaccinated.
The statewide vaccination rate is now 65%, according to the most recent data on the state’s COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboard.
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Whitmer said Monday the sweepstakes “has been a success and we are continuing to make progress in keeping our families and communities safe,” thanks to all who got their shots during the incentive program.
“But our work is not done,” Whitmer said. “We are going to keep making efforts to reach people where they are, answer their questions and help them get their shots. If we work together, I know we can get this done and continue our economic jumpstart.”
More than 2.4 million Michiganders signed up to win daily $50,000 cash prizes in the sweepstakes, and about 106,000 young Michiganders signed up for the scholarship sweepstakes.
Christine Duval, of Bloomfield Township, was announced as the winner of the $2 million grand prize Monday. Duval told WWJ she and her family already have plans for some of that money.
“First of all, we want to put aside money to help our kids and save for their education. We are planning to remodel our home and we want to give back to those in need,” she said.
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Duval also says they plan to donate some of the grand prize money to help improve mental health services in their community.
The state saw a weekly increase of at least 2,000, in terms of first doses administered during the July sweepstakes, according to numbers released by the state:
-- July 4-10: 28,000 first doses administered
-- July 11-17: 30,000 first doses administered
-- July 18-24: 35,000 first doses administered
-- July 25-30: 41,000 first doses administered
The number of weekly first doses administered in Michigan had decreased from nearly 75,000 per week at the beginning of June, to below 30,000. But that number increased by 55% between the start of the sweepstakes and Aug. 9, the state says.
State health officials say the summer months “historically report lower vaccination rates,” but the MI Shot To Win program “helped Michigan reverse that trend during a critical period of time before the more infectious Delta variant became the dominant strain of COVID-19.”
Kerry Ebersole Singh, director of the Protect Michigan Commission, said the sweepstakes and news coverage “helped spur conversation between families and friends about the sweepstakes.
“Several winners who were previously unvaccinated before the sweepstakes said they were inspired to get their vaccinations based on those discussions and the prizes they could win,” Ebersole Singh said.
Whitmer created the Protect Michigan Commision in January and is housed within the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Future plans for the commission include increasing community access to the vaccine through mobile clinics and community events, highlighting Michiganders’ stories with the vaccine, and door-to-door outreach programs.
More information on the coronavirus pandemic and the COVID-19 vaccine can be found on the state’s website.
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