Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney has announced the launch of “Philly Vax Sweepstakes,” a series of three citywide drawings designed to give Philadelphians extra motivation to get their vaccination against COVID-19 as the city fully reopens this summer.
A total of 36 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.
“We’re incredibly proud of our extensive efforts to vaccinate our residents and that more than two-thirds of Philadelphia adults have received their first dose. The vaccine is critical to protecting us from COVID-19, getting back to the things we’ve missed, and safely reigniting our economy,” Kenney said. “This exciting initiative offers an opportunity to reward Philadelphians who have already been vaccinated while also motivating those who haven’t yet.
I thank our partners at the University of Pennsylvania for making this incredible opportunity possible and encourage all Philadelphians to vax up to win!”
The sweepstakes will include special incentives to encourage vaccination in Philadelphia’s least vaccinated communities:
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, phila.gov, and on the City’s social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) roughly 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 can be a “selected” zip code 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 in the following ways:
• Online at: www.PhillyVaxSweeps.com
• By phone at 1-877-642-5666 from 8 a.m. – 7 p.m.
• By texting “Phillyvax” to 215-608-9799.
Registration confirms participation in all three sweepstake drawings, and duplicate entries will only count once. Once an individual registers, their entry will be carried over through all the drawings; it is not necessary to enter each week. To be eligible to receive a cash prize, each winner must meet all of the following criteria:
• Must currently reside in Philadelphia;
• Must be 18 years of age or older; and
• Must have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine prior to the drawing date.
“We are delighted to be partnering with the City to encourage vaccination. This lottery’s design is unique, and we hope it will meaningfully and measurably increase vaccination rates in Philadelphia, particularly in our most vulnerable communities,” said Professor Katy Milkman of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. “We look forward to sharing what we learn about its impact to help our city and others around the country.”
“The COVID-19 vaccine has helped to reopen our city, but reaching as many people as possible has been quite a challenge,” said City Councilmember Cindy Bass (D-8th Dist.), who chairs Council’s Public Health Committee and also serves on an intergovernmental committee monitoring the city’s response to COVID-19. “There’s still much more work to be done to conquer this virus and get back to complete normalcy. It’s been an ‘all hands on deck’ effort, which continues into the foreseeable future. We support Mayor Kenney’s and City Council’s efforts to get more Philadelphians vaccinated.”
“The Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium (BDCC) is excited to partner with the University of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Department of Public Health on this initiative,” Dr. Ala Stanford added. “We are very familiar with the priority zip codes as we have provided barrier’free and no-cost testing and vaccinations since April 2020 in these communities. This program is a way to assist communities that were both disproportionately impacted by coronavirus and had fewer testing locations and vaccination sites in their neighborhoods.”
“We will continue to serve the community by offering all three vaccines, no appointment, walk-in, weekly vaccination clinics, as well as home vaccinations for our homebound residents,” she continued. “We will promote the sweepstakes to all Philadelphia residents, BDCC friends and community partners as trusted messengers.”
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.
The sweepstakes selection process will be conducted by Universal Promotions, Inc., a Pennsylvania company specializing in sweepstakes and digital and relationship marketing, utilizing their custom random selection system.
For more information, visit: www.PhillyVaxSweeps.com. To learn where you can be vaccinated or to schedule an appointment, visit www.phila.gov/vaccine, or call (215) 685-5488.
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