Spokane Nursing Student Claims 3rd $250,000 Vaccine Lottery Prize

OLYMPIA, WA — The third Washingtonian to win $250,000 in the "Shot of a Lifetime" lottery came forward Thursday, joining Gov. Jay Inslee for a news conference in Olympia. Lottery officials drew 271 winning numbers Tuesday morning, including 15 youth winners who were awarded a full year of future college tuition costs.

The big cash prize went to a young woman studying nursing in Spokane, identified Thursday as Marissa P. Unlike the previous two cash winners, she decided to accept the oversized check on camera and share the stage with the governor.

"We have a special guest who is a tremendous leader in the state of Washington in the effort to save lives and break the back of the COVID pandemic," Inslee said. "This is a young leader from Spokane who is a pre-nursing student. She intends to help save many lives during her career, but she's doing this today."

The governor went on to thank Marissa for setting an example for young adults who still need to get vaccinated, especially as the more infectious delta variant gains ground in Washington.

"I think that you are serving as a role model for us because I know this will help encourage other people, particularly people of your age," Inslee said. "We know that the variants are biting some young people kind of hard."

Marissa accepted the check with a handshake and briefly addressed the cameras.

"I'm so honored to be here, and I feel so blessed to be here," she said. "I just want to say stay healthy and stay safe and go get vaccinated."

Marissa also shared a written statement, published Thursday afternoon by the Washington State Lottery:

"As you can probably imagine, I was shocked when I got the call from the Lottery and even more shocked when they told me that I’d won the $250,000 prize. I’m still amazed that it’s real and feel very blessed. I’m grateful to the State, to Governor Inslee, to the Department of Health and to the Lottery for creating this program, and for helping make sure as many people as possible get their COVID-19 vaccination. As a pre-nursing student, I am deeply concerned about the health and wellbeing of all people, and I strongly encourage everyone who hasn’t yet taken the time to get their shots to please do so. These vaccines help protect you and others, and getting ourselves vaccinated will ultimately help our entire community."

Dan Miller, a spokesperson for the lottery, said 139 of the prizes awarded to adults Tuesday were successfully claimed by Thursday afternoon, along with six of the 15 youth tuition credits.

Two drawings remain, including another $250,000 prize on June 29 and a $1 million grand prize on July 13. The last drawing will also include all unclaimed prizes from the first four drawings. All Washingtonians who have been vaccinated in the state at any point are eligible and automatically entered to win. Lottery officials said this week's drawing randomly selected winners from more than 4 million adults — up more than 54,000 from the week before — and close to 225,000 youths.

On Wednesday, state health officials said Washington was about two points shy of hitting the 70 percent target for residents 16 and older with at least one dose of vaccine. Barring a last-minute boost allowing it to happen a couple of days early, Washington will reopen Wednesday, June 30.

Here are the dates for the remaining "Shot of a Lifetime" drawings:

• Tuesday, June 29 ($250K + other prizes)
  • Winners contacted between June 30 and July 2
• Tuesday, July 13 ($1 million grand prize + all unclaimed prizes)
  • Grand prize winner contacted by the next day