Amazon has handed $100,000 cash prizes or cars worth as much as $40,000 to 8 employees who proved they were vaccinated against COVID-19

• Amazon said it's handed cars or $100,000 cash prizes to eight of its frontline workers.
• The winners entered a sweepstake restricted to employees who prove they're vaccinated against COVID-19.
• Two grand prizes of $500,000 each are still up for grabs.

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Amazon said it's handed cars or $100,000 cash prizes to a handful of frontline workers who entered a company lottery restricted to fully-vaccinated employees.

In recent posts on Amazon Vest Life, an official Instagram account for Amazon associates, the retailer said it had awarded eight prizes as part of its "Max-Your-Vax" sweepstake.

Amazon does not mandate vaccinations for its workers but appears to be using Max-Your-Vax to encourage frontline employees to get the shots. The company employs 950,000 people in the US.

According to a post Monday on Amazon Vest Life, four warehouse workers and one Whole Foods employee were each awarded cars worth up to $40,000.

A post shared by The Amazon Vest Life (@amazonvestlife)

Last week, the same account said two Amazon workers and one Whole Foods employee had each been awarded $100,000 cash prizes, and were the first winners in the sweepstake.

Last week's post said two grand prizes, each of $500,000, would be awarded on October 7 and 14. 

To enter into the sweepstake, Amazon and Whole Foods hourly frontline staff in the US must upload proof of full vaccination to the company's internal portal. There is a maximum of one prize per participant, according to the rules.

Amazon launched Max-Your-Vax in August. The sweepstake also offers vaccinated employees the chance to win a vacation valued at $12,000 plus 40 hours of paid time off.

Bloomberg reported in August that Amazon estimated the program would cost it about $2 million overall.

In July, an Amazon spokesperson told Insider it was scaling back on-site testing for COVID-19. The retail giant still requires workers to wear masks inside its warehouses, even if they're vaccinated.