Vaccine Lottery Winners $50K Richer Thanks To CA

SACRAMENTO, CA — Fifteen lucky Californians won $50,000 today to spend as the economy fully reopens June 15.

Gov. Gavin Newsom selected the first 15 winners of the state’s COVID-19 "Vax for the Win" vaccine lottery Friday morning. Anyone already vaccinated in California (with the exception of state public health department employees and prisoners) was automatically entered to win a prize.

“All 21.5 million of you have a chance to win...Everybody is automatically eligible once you get one shot," Newsom said as he introduced the drawing. State officials announced the county the 15 winners are from, but declined to publically name the winners. The winners will receive calls from state officials over the next several days, Newsom said. They will receive their winnings after they are fully inoculated

The 15 $50,000 winners are from the following counties:

• Mendocino
• Los Angeles: 3 winners
• Santa Clara: 3 winners
• Alameda
• San Diego: 3 winners
• San Francisco: 2 winners
• Orange
• San Luis Obispo

A series of drawings that began Friday will lead up to a June 15 drawing in which 10 people will win $1.5 million prizes. The $116 million lottery program announced last week is the nation’s most ambitious incentive program to get shots in the arms of vaccine holdouts.

A week into the program, it’s too early to say if it’s working, but Newsom on Friday implied that vaccination rates are beginning to climb again after plummeting for weeks.

"We are seeing vaccination rates across the spectrum improve — particularly in black and brown communities — although we recognize we still have work to do in that space," Newsom said.

Vaccination rates across the state had been dropping for weeks as the vaccines became widely available and the spread of the outbreak slowed. The state’s urban and suburban centers currently have the highest vaccination rates and the lowest coronavirus infection rates. It’s only in California’s rural communities, where vaccination rates are lowest, that infection rates remain stubbornly high.

Overall, California has the lowest infection rate of any state in the nation, currently.

More than 50 percent of California's adult population is fully vaccinated, which is higher than the national average. More than 70 percent of adults in the state have received at least one shot, Newsom said. State officials recently estimated that 12 million residents eligible for the vaccine still haven't gotten the shot.

Critics of the lottery program contend that the prizes did little to sway people who had already decided not to get the vaccine. They accused the state of wasting resources on prizes for people who needed no inducement to get inoculated.

Newsom acknowledged the criticism at Friday's drawing but said it was necessary to think outside the box to find ways of reaching people who have been slow to get the vaccine.

"I know some are cynical about these things," he said. "Some are in denial that they should have any role to play as it relates to doing the right thing — that is getting a life-saving shot that will not only save or support your own success throughout this pandemic and getting us to the other side but also supporting the health and safety of your loved ones and the broader community."

But vaccine incentive programs are growing in popularity, spreading to local health departments, and even private companies are offering huge cash prizes to the vaccinated.

In addition to the statewide lottery, county and city health departments have offered their own incentives including a chance to win Lakers and Dodgers season tickets, gaming consoles and vacation packages. At many vaccination sites, everyone getting the shot receives gift cards good at grocery stores and other retailers teaming up with health departments. On Thursday Kroger Co., the parent company of Ralphs, announced plans to offer people who get vaccinated at its stores a chance to win $1 million or free groceries for a year.

Dubbed the "#CommunityImmunity Giveaway, the program will award $1 million to five winners who get vaccinated at any Kroger Co. location and register online at KrogerGiveaway.com. Fifty people will win free groceries for a year.

The first 2 million people to get vaccinated in California since the Vax for the Win" program was announced last will receive $50 prepaid or grocery cards or a $50 Mastercard option.

Details of the "Vax for the Win" program can be found here on the state website.