3 Jefferson City residents among winners named in final vaccination lottery

Three more people from Jefferson City were among those selected during the fifth and final drawing of Missouri vaccination lottery, known as MO VIP.

Connie Bruns, Garrett Luetkemeyer and Mary Smith won cash prizes of $10,000.

Sierra Carr, of Holts Summit, Deanna Dale, of California, and Brandyn Steinman, of Lohman, also won cash prizes.

There were no area winners of the $10,000 education savings accounts, which are awarded to people younger than 18 who have been vaccinated.

The intent of the program was as an incentive to get Missourians to seek and receive COVID-19 vaccinations.

Since it was announced July 21, 57,117 Missourians ages 18 and older received at least the first does of a COVID-19 vaccine and entered for the chance to win prizes. More than 39,000 children ages 12-17 also initiated the vaccination and entered to win.

Federal and state data show 58 percent of Missourians who are eligible for the vaccinations have completed the vaccination process as of Wednesday, while 66 percent have initiated it by receiving the first dose.

The program was successful and encouraged folks to seek out vaccinations, said Donald Kauerauf, director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

The Missouri Lottery conducted drawings every two weeks.

In an effort to make the lottery more fair, participants were divided into three categories: Missourians age 18 or older vaccinated after July 21 were in the red category, while those vaccinated before July 21 were in the white category and Missourians ages 12-17 vaccinated at any time were in the blue category.

Eighty winners were drawn from each of the red and white categories every two weeks, and 20 winners were drawn from the blue category every two weeks. Adolescents were awarded a $10,000 education savings account instead of the cash prize.

Eight hundred adults and 100 adolescents were winners of prizes through the course of the program.

"The timing of the launch of this program was so impactful," Kauerauf said in a news release. "Obviously an incentive program is not going to be the silver bullet that causes everyone to choose vaccination and end COVID-19. But for the thousands of people that this program incentivized, the vaccination may have saved their life or the life of a loved one during a time that was challenging for many areas of the state. Every person vaccinated lessens the opportunity for the virus to spread further."

Upcoming Events