While Gov. Mike DeWine touted the $1 million COVID-19 vaccine drawings, only a little more than half of Ohioans eligible for the first Vax-a-Million signed up for the prize.

DeWine announced Monday that 2,758,470 Ohioans opted in to the $1 million prize while 104,386 people between 12 and 17 years old signed up to be eligible for free tuition at a state public college or university.

He said the website had about 74 million pageviews.

But Ohio Department of Health statistics show 5,179,064 people were eligible for the drawings.

That means only 55.3 percent of those who started the vaccination process and could win $1 million signed up.

The winner of the state’s first Vax-a-Million drawing of $1 million will be announced Wednesday. There will be four other weekly $1 million drawings to follow.

To be eligible for the first drawing, Ohioans must be at least 18 years old and had to have started the vaccination process by 11:59 p.m. Sunday. The drawing was Monday with the winner to be announced at 7:29 p.m. Wednesday. The same timeline will follow for the subsequent four drawings.

To opt-in, register online at ohiovaxamillion.com or call 833-427-5634 between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m.

You only need to register once to be eligible for all of the drawings.

The state also is having drawings at the same time for those between the ages of 12 and 17 who have started the vaccination process for free tuition at a public college or university in Ohio as long as the winner is accepted at those schools. Use the same website and phone number to register for the next four drawings.

DeWine said Monday he didn’t know if the state would offer other incentives to get vaccinated once the five weeks of drawings end.

Before DeWine’s May 12 announcement about the drawings, the number of vaccinations was declining. It has since increased, but it was two to three times higher as recently as six weeks ago.

Asked about the turnaround, DeWine said it’s “exceeded my wildest expectations.”

The state is lifting all health orders related to the pandemic, except those for nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, starting June 2.

Currently, those who are fully vaccinated no longer had to wear face masks except when in a health care setting, traveling on public transportation and when required in businesses or a place of work that chooses to do that.

DeWine said Monday that the number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people for the past two weeks was down to 89.8. It was almost double that, 179.7 cases per 100,000, on March 4.

COVID-19 DATA

The 566 new cases reported Monday was down from the daily average of 1,041 for the past 21 days, according to the ODH.

It was the least number of new cases in a day in the state since June 21, 2020.

The state has been under 1,500 daily cases since May 2 and under 1,000 daily cases during eight of the last 10 days.

The state had a total of 1,097,866 COVID-19 cases as of Monday with 1,056,441 presumed recovered.

The ODH provides death information on Tuesdays and Fridays. There were 19,709 total COVID-19 deaths as of Friday.

Mahoning County had 22,027 total COVID-19 cases as of Monday with 20,801 presumed recovered and 591 deaths, according to the ODH.

Trumbull County had 16,334 total COVID-19 cases as of Monday with 15,438 presumed recovered and 473 deaths.

Columbiana County had 8,934 total COVID-19 cases as of Monday with 8,514 presumed recovered and 229 deaths.

VACCINATIONS

There were 5,179,064 people, 44.31 percent of the state’s population, who had at least started getting inoculated as of 6 a.m. Monday, including 9,075 in the previous 24 hours, according to the ODH.

In Mahoning County, 43.2 percent of the population (98,780 people) had received at least one dose with 41.32 percent of the population in Trumbull County (81,805 people) and 35.31 percent in Columbiana County (35,974 people) as of 6 a.m. Monday, according to the ODH.

There were 4,539,891 people, 38.84 percent of the state’s population,who finished the vaccinations as of 6 a.m. Monday, including 7,763 in the prior 24 hours.

In Mahoning County, 37.84 percent of the population (86,539 people) had completed the process while 35.69 percent of the population in Trumbull (70,661 people) and 31.36 percent of the population in Columbiana (31,955 people) had as of 6 a.m. Monday.

The Trumbull County Combined Health District will have a walk-in COVID-19 vaccination clinic that will also offer immunizations for children at its Warren office at 176 Chestnut Ave. NE June 23 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 1 to 3 p.m.

dskolnick@tribtoday.com

dskolnick@vindy.com