Who won $10,000 Vax-2-School scholarships? Ohio announces Day 2 winners

Ohio announced the second round of winners of its Vax-2-School drawing Tuesday, with more winners to be announced throughout this week.

The second round of 30 people who have earned $10,000 scholarships in return for getting the COVID-19 shot includes:

• Paul Augenstein, Canal Winchester

• Bryce Bennett, Washington Court House

• Stephen Berent, Beavercreek

• Jacob Cameron, Plain City

• Jennifer Cole, Scio

• Haylee Dixon, Bowling Green

• Bentley Hall, Avon Lake

• Paxton Heflin, Columbus

• Zoe Helmick, Englewood

• Rilyn Hernandez, Lorain

• Noah Holman, Columbus

• Christina Kinkelaar, Westlake

• Madhav Khanal, Stow

• Haylie Knab, Harrison

• Erin Kulhanek, Chillicothe

• Jonathan Lewis, Troy

• Jenna Lutz, Toledo

• Henry Marshall, Wyoming

• Coop McRitchie, Northfield

• Nishaan Meet, Kirtland

• Colsen Oyer, Jackson

• Emilia Patterson, Wadsworth

• Benjamin Payne, North Royalton

• Markalen Rogers, Columbus

• Mihalis Sarakinakis, Westerville

• Kylie Schlanger, Beachwood

• Emily Schneider, Newark

• Meadow Stiles, Toledo

• Joshua Thomas, Westlake

• Cheryl Weaver, Fostoria

Vax-2-School is an initiative by the Ohio Department of Health to increase COVID-19 vaccination rates among young people, especially with the shot recently getting approval to be used on those as young as 5 years old. The first round of 30 winners was announced Monday.

“This age group has the most room to grow in getting vaccinated and, with the delta variant in our midst, is the group we’re most concerned will miss in-classroom opportunities if they get or are exposed to COVID-19," Gov. Mike DeWine previously said.

Vax-2-School Day 1 winners: Who won $10,000 Vax-2-School scholarships? Ohio announces winners

As of Sunday, only a quarter of Ohioans ages 19 and younger have received their first dose, per state data. The next lowest rate is for those ages 20 to 29 at 52%.

Since the governor announced the Vax-2-School prizes on Sept. 23, the vaccination rate for first doses increased from 33% to 40% for Ohioans ages 29 and younger, according to a USA Today Network Ohio Bureau review.

Between Tuesday and Friday, the state will draw 30 more winners each day for a chance at the $10,000 scholarships. On Friday night, the Ohio Lottery will also broadcast the five grand prize winners earning $100,000 scholarships.

As of last week, there were more than 133,600 entries. You can find who the winners are every day at 3:30 p.m. on Twitter and Instagram at @ohiovax2school. Grand prize winners will be announced at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

The program is awarding a total of $2 million in prizes: 150 $10,000 scholarships and five $100,000 grand prize scholarships. Prize scholarships are awarded in Ohio 529 College Advantage plans and can be used at any Ohio college, technical or trade school or career program.

There's still some time to qualify for the grand prize lottery. Ohioans ages 5 through 25 would need to get their first shot and enter online at ohiovax2school.com before the end of Wednesday.

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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Who won $10,000 Vax-2-School scholarships? Ohio announces Day 2 winners