Gov. Gavin Newsom identified one of the first 15 winners of the state’s $50,000 lottery for residents who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 — a man named Tony who said he initially dismissed the news as a gag.
“I got the call last Friday. At first, I thought it was a joke, so I ignored it,” Tony says in a clip shared Wednesday evening on the governor’s social media sites.
Tony, who didn’t give a last name, woke up to his good fortune after he did some research about the giveaway.
“I’m so super happy,” he says in the clip, wearing a baseball cap and a shirt emblazoned with pink flamingoes. He does not say where he lives.
The clip shows him embracing his dog, holding a wine glass full of orange juice and getting his shot at a drive-thru clinic.
“It’s been a rough year, a year and a half, for me and everyone else out there,” Tony says. “So it’s nice to have this extra money come in.”
The clip revives the image of Newsom as a game show host at the California State Lottery headquarters in Sacramento last Friday, where he stood in front of a glittery gold curtain, “Wheel of Fortune”-style colored wheel and columns of plastic numbered balls used for the drawing.
State officials said they have reached 13 out of 15 winners of the $50,000 prizes so far — all of them from Bay Area or coastal counties, including Mendocino, San Francisco, Alameda, Santa Clara, Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange and San Luis Obispo. Their names are not being made public unless they give consent.
It was the first in a series of drawings for $16.5 million in prize money aimed at encouraging Californians to get their shots ahead by Tuesday, when the state plans to lift almost all coronavirus-related restrictions.
The next 15 winners for the remaining $50,000 prizes will be picked Friday. Then on Tuesday, $1.5 million apiece will be handed out to 10 people — the largest vaccination prizes in the country.
About 45% of the state is fully vaccinated, though that could reach 50% by Tuesday. About 54% of Californians 12 and older who are eligible for vaccination have been fully immunized. The state’s goal is to fully vaccinate at least 75% of residents.
Newsom said Friday that with the reopening looming, it will be hard to convince the holdouts to get their shots.
“Moving from 70% of adults to 75% and beyond, that’s stubborn, that’s difficult work,” he said.
In the week after Californians became eligible to win money, vaccinations were down 4% from the prior week, Newsom spokeswoman Erin Mellon said. She added that without the lure of the lottery and guaranteed $50 gift cards for people who get their first shots, the dropoff might have been worse.
Anyone who has gotten at least one vaccine dose is eligible for the cash prizes, with a few exceptions including people who are incarcerated and those who work for the governor.
Aidin Vaziri is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: avaziri@sfchronicle.com
June 11, 2021 at 02:16AM
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California vaccine lottery winner thought call from state ‘was a joke’ - San Francisco Chronicle
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