COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio has doubled the “Vax-2-School" lottery incentive prize money to $2 million in scholarships, the Ohio Department of Health announced on Friday.

Ohioans between the ages of 12-25 could be eligible to win one of 150, $10,000 scholarships, or one of five, $100,000 grand prize scholarships. The scholarships can be used at an Ohio college, university, technical/trade school or career program.

“We are hearing promising news following the clinical trial and safety data submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by Pfizer for their COVID-19 vaccine for 5 to 11-year-olds,” said ODH Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff in a press release. “In anticipation of a COVID-19 vaccine being authorized for children as young as 5 in the near future, we have decided to broaden the Ohio Vax-2-School program to include this age group, should they become eligible for vaccines.”

Officials said that starting Oct. 4, any Ohioan currently 12 to 25 years of age can enter the vaccine lottery after receiving at least one dose of the vaccine. The incentive could expand to those as young as five pending FDA authorization of the Pfizer vaccine for younger children. 

Last month, Gov. Mike DeWine announced the Vax-2-School lottery incentive program as part of an effort to increase the number of people vaccinated statewide amid rising COVID-19 cases among young people.

DeWine said the vaccine incentive is similar to the scholarships Ohio offered in the Vax-a-Million lottery in May and June.

“We had great success with Vax-A-Million, and we’re excited to assist the Department of Health again with this new initiative to help encourage younger Ohioans to get vaccinated,” Ohio Lottery Director Pat McDonald said.

Vanderhoff said after the first week when the Ohio Vax-A-Million was announced, there was a 44% increase compared to the base in vaccination rates for those 16 and older, and a 15% boost the following week.

“We are hopeful that the $2 million in scholarship prizes will provide an incentive, much like Vax-a-Million did, to help speed up the vaccination timeline for Ohioans,” said Vanderhoff.

Eligible Ohioans between the ages of 12-25 can enter online at www.ohiovax2school.com or by phone at 1-833-4- ASK-ODH (1-833-427-5634). The deadline to enter and drawing dates have not yet been announced, according to the press release.

Officials said they will share additional details about the incentive program in the coming weeks to allow more time for an emergency use authorization (EUA) to be granted for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for those ages 5-11.