LOS ANGELES, CA (KMJ) – Gov. Gavin Newsom picked 10 winners in the grand prize drawing of California’s Vax for the Win lottery Tuesday.
Standing next to minions and Optimus Prime, at Universal Studios on Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the state has fully reopens its economy.
California, the first state in America to put in place a coronavirus lockdown, is now turning a page on the pandemic.
As of Monday, almost 19 million people were fully vaccinated and according to the state’s vaccine progress dashboard nearly 4 million people were partially vaccinated in California.
At the stroke of midnight, California lifted most of its COVID-19 restrictions and ushering in what has been billed as the state’s “Grand Reopening.”
Starting Tuesday, there will be no more state rules on social distancing, and no more limits on capacity at restaurants, bars, supermarkets, gyms, stadiums or anywhere else. And masks — one of the most symbolic and fraught symbols of the pandemic — will no longer be mandated for vaccinated people in most settings, though businesses and counties can still require them.
Just in time for summer, California wants to send the message that life in the Golden State is getting much closer to normal. The economy is fully reopening for the first time in 15 months and people can largely return to pre-pandemic lifestyles. Fans can cheer mask-less at Dodgers and Giants games. Disneyland is throwing its doors open to all tourists after allowing just California residents. People can pack indoor bars and nightclubs from the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles to the Castro in San Francisco.
“With all due respect, eat your heart out, the rest of the United States. There is no state in America that has more,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said on the eve of the reopening. “The state is not just poised to recover, it’s poised to come roaring back.”
In a made-for-TV main event, the governor drew 10 names of residents who have received at least one vaccine dose and award each one $1.5 million.
The drawing is the grand finale to the nation’s largest vaccine incentive, $116 million in a COVID-19 vaccine lottery. Winners can collect the money once they’re fully vaccinated.
Ten people, including a resident from Sacramento County and another from Stanislaus County, were picked for the grand prize of $1.5 million each.
Good morning California.
It’s reopening day.
We’ve administered over 40 million vaccines.
Now…
No more social distancing.
No more capacity limits.
No more colors or county tiers.
And if you’re vaccinated—no more masks.
It’s a good day.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 15, 2021
Counties in June 15’s Vax for the Win winners:
- 4r from Los Angeles County
- 1 from Marin County
- 1 from Riverside County
- 1 from Santa Barbara County
- 1 from Sacramento County
- 1 from Stanislaus County
- 1 from Ventura County
Eligibility: You must be at least 12 years of age and have received at least your first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Prize money will be paid once you have completed your vaccination series.
Click to listen to the report by KMJ’s Liz Kern:
PRESS RELEASE FROM GOV. OFFICE:
UNIVERSAL CITY – As California moves Beyond the Blueprint today to fully reopen the economy, Governor Gavin Newsom welcomed the milestone at Universal Studios Hollywood, where he highlighted the attractions Californians can look forward to revisiting this summer. Governor Newsom also selected 10 lucky Californians to receive $1.5 million each – for a total of $15 million – as part of the final cash prize drawing in the state’s Vax for the Win program.
Starting today, June 15, the restrictions that have been in place over the past year will be eliminated, including physical distancing, capacity limits, county tier systems and masks in almost all settings for vaccinated Californians.
In taking early action to address the pandemic head-on, Governor Newsom protected both Californians and the state’s economy, resulting in some of the best health and economic outcomes of any state in the country:
- California is forecasted to outpace the country’s economic recovery, ranked as the No. 1 U.S. economy for “expanding GDP, raising household income, investing in innovation,” and more.
- California is creating more jobs than any other state for three months in a row, adding 385,000 jobs; in April alone, California created 38 percent of the nation’s jobs.
- The state consistently has amongst the lowest case rates and transmission rates in the nation, and hospitalizations dipped to the lowest point since March 2020.
- More than 40 million vaccinations have been administered in California, surpassing the next closest state by 16 million, with over 70 percent of adults having at least one shot.
“Today, we celebrate the incredible strength and resilience of Californians – from our heroic health care workers to essential workers across the board to everyday Californians from all walks of life – who have supported each other through hardship and heartache over the past year, making sacrifices to save countless lives and enable us to turn the page on this pandemic,” said Governor Newsom. “As we look ahead to better days, we will continue to look out for one another, redoubling our support to those hit hardest by the pandemic and making unprecedented investments to address California’s most persistent challenges, so that the entire state comes roaring back together.”
The Governor was joined at Universal Studios by two of the 30 $50,000 winners –Aurelia, of Los Angeles County and Reyna, of Orange County – who received their checks today. “I am deeply grateful for this prize and proud to have done my part to protect my community from COVID-19 – bringing the state one step closer to this incredible moment,” said Aurelia. “I encourage others to get vaccinated to help keep us on track to putting this pandemic behind us for good.” Helen Cordova, a registered nurse in Los Angeles who became the first person to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in California last December, assisted with today’s grand prize drawing.
Under Vax for the Win, California was one of the only states in the country to achieve a week-over-week increase in the rate of vaccinations, and most recently we saw a 22 percent increase in vaccinations, including an increase in rates amongst hard-to-reach communities. Since launching Vax for the Win, more than 3 million vaccine doses have been reported, including over 924,221 Californians newly starting their vaccination process, and the state has seen the largest number of first doses administered in communities hit hardest by the pandemic.
Today’s selection of 10 $1.5 million winners caps off the cash prize giveaways as part of the $116.5 million Vax for the Win program – the largest vaccine incentive program in the nation. The program previously selected 30 winners to receive $50,000 each, for a total of $1,500,000. In addition, the program is providing $100 million in $50 prepaid or grocery cards for newly vaccinated people, while supplies last. Governor Newsom also highlighted the upcoming California Dream Vacations, a new Vax for the Win incentive in which vaccinated Californians have the chance to win one of six in-state vacation packages in a drawing on July 1.
Today’s $1.5 million winners live in the following counties: Los Angeles, Marin, Riverside, Santa Barbara, Sacramento, Stanislaus and Ventura. The California Department of Public Health will start notifying winners within hours of the drawing and over the next several days by telephone, text, email or other contact information associated with the person’s record in the state’s vaccine registry. To protect their privacy, all winners will have the option to accept their cash prize while remaining anonymous or decline it altogether.
The $50,000 winners selected in prior cash prize drawings live throughout the state, including Sandy of Orange County, a winner from last week who said “I can’t tell you how grateful I am. I feel so free after getting mine, I was able to hug my grandkids and go to the store without fear. I want to encourage all to get their vaccine soon – the feeling is so wonderful.”
Californians who have not gotten vaccinated yet are encouraged to go to myturn.ca.gov or call (833) 422-4255 to schedule their appointment, or go to myturn.ca.gov/clinic to find a walk-in clinic in their county.
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