$400K In Prizes Available In Philadelphia Vaccination Sweepstakes

PHILADELPHIA — Three dozen lucky Philadelphians who have gotten the coronavirus vaccines will be chosen winners in the newly announced Philly Vax Sweepstakes.

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney announced the sweepstakes, which is a series of three citywide drawings that will give Philadelphians extra motivation to get the coronavirus vaccine as the city fully reopens this summer.

Thirty-six vaccinated Philadelphians will win cash prizes up to $50,000, totaling nearly $400,000 in giveaways. In each of the three drawings on June 21, July 6, and July 19, six individuals will win $1,000; four will win $5,000; and two will win $50,000.

In each of the three sweepstakes drawings, one zip code from the 20 zip codes in Philadelphia with the lowest vaccination rates as of May 27 will be selected at random for extra prizes.

Half of the winners of each prize category will be drawn from this "selected" zip code, and the other half will be drawn from all other Philadelphia zip codes.

The selected zip code in each drawing will be publicly announced on the City of Philadelphia’s website and on the City’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts about two weeks before the drawing, creating an added incentive for residents in that zip code to get their vaccine if they haven’t already.

No zip code will be chosen more than once during the program, meaning there will be three "selected" Philadelphia zip codes in total.

For the first sweepstakes drawing on June 21. The selected zip code is 19126, which includes parts of East and West Oak Lane in North Philadelphia.

Residents 18 years of age or older from this zip code have roughly a 100 times greater chance of winning a cash prize than those in other Philadelphia zip codes.

All Philadelphians who would like to participate in the sweepstakes are encouraged to register to guarantee their eligibility.

Names will be drawn from a pool of those who register as well as those in an existing residential database. Philadelphians whose names are selected will be contacted, and if they are unvaccinated, a new winner will be selected.

Registration can be completed 24 hours a day in English or Spanish online here, by calling 1-877-642-5666 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., or by texting "Phillyvax" to 215-608-9799

Registration confirms participation in all three sweepstakes drawings, and duplicate entries will only be counted once. After a resident registers, their entry will be carried over through all the drawings; it is not necessary to enter each week.

To enter, you must be 18 or older, currently reside in Philadelphia, and have gotten at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine before the drawing date.

Financial support for the sweepstakes and related research is being provided by the Wharton School and University of Pennsylvania’s Behavior Change for Good Initiative, the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics, and Flu Lab.

Find out where to get a vaccination or schedule vaccine appointments online here or call 215-685-5488.