RALEIGH, N.C. (WGHP) — Most but not all COVID-19 vaccine providers will make sure your name is properly filed so you have your shot at $1 million in North Carolina’s coronavirus vaccine lottery.
Who is eligible for the North Carolina vaccine lottery?
According to the governor’s executive order, there’s a list of overall eligibility requirements to be included in the summer cash drawing.
You must be a North Carolina resident who is at least 18 years old when you receive your first dose of the Pfizer or Modern COVID-19 vaccines or your single dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination site in North Carolina.
The state is also barring people who helped develop or administer the lottery and their immediate family members from participating.
The State of North Carolina must receive and accept your information from your vaccination provider before 11:59:59 p.m. the Sunday before the drawing.
Which vaccination sites send their info to North Carolina?
Most vaccine sites send your vaccination information to the state, meaning that you will be entered into the drawing if you meet all other eligibility requirements.
The State of North Carolina keeps track of vaccinations using the COVID-19 Vaccine Management System. This system helps state vaccination providers, healthcare providers and some employers and organizations manage their COVID-19 vaccination data collectively.
If you were vaccinated at a site run by a provider using this system, you’re in!
These North Carolinians will be able to verify that the state has their information by checking the state’s COVID-19 vaccine portal, which is populated with information from the state’s CVMS.
However, not every vaccination provider uses that system. If the system doesn’t have your information, that doesn’t necessarily mean you weren’t entered.
If you were vaccinated at a pharmacy participating in the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program, you might not see your name, but you will be entered into the drawing, said Hattie Gawande, senior policy and intergovernmental affairs advisor at DHHS.
“If they don’t find themselves, they shouldn’t panic,” Gawande told WNCN. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re excluded. It just means that their provider didn’t have to invite them to create a profile for themselves.”
The lottery rules say that N.C. Department of Health and Human Services may not be able to access data from people who received their vaccinations at locations operated by federal agencies or other organizations.
The state recently was able to make sure that those who receive their vaccination from the Veterans’ Administration and Indian Health Service will also be included.
The U.S. Department of Defense confirmed that it will not share vaccination information with the state, WNCN reports. That means anyone who was vaccinated at a DOD site will not be included in the vaccine lottery.
“If the state of North Carolina does not have access to an individual’s vaccination data at the time of the drawing, or if DHHS has not been able at the time of the drawing to add the individual’s vaccination data to the DHHS list of entries, that person will be ineligible for that drawing,” the N.C. Education Lottery says in the lottery rules.
How does this whole thing work anyway?
Entries for the first drawing closed at midnight Sunday, and the first drawing is scheduled for Wednesday, June 23.
The drawings will run every other Wednesday until Aug. 4. New entries will close at midnight on the Sunday prior to the Wednesday drawing.
Four vaccinated North Carolinians ages 18 and older will win $1 million each, and four North Carolinians ages 12 to 17 will win up to $125,000 towards tuition for post-secondary education.
Anyone who has already received at least one dose of vaccine will receive one entry into the drawing. Anyone who gets vaccinated now, since the announcement of the lottery, will receive two entries.
