A resident of San Diego County is one of the 15 people chosen in California's latest Vax for a Win drawing on Friday who each get $50,000 dollars.
Winners also included three from Los Angeles County and one each from Orange and Riverside counties. The winners chosen Friday were not publicly identified, with recipients picked using a lottery-type system of numbered ping-pong balls, with the numbers corresponding with one of the state's 21.98 million eligible residents.
Winners will be contacted by the state in the coming days. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who oversaw the selection ceremony remotely while visiting Vista, noted that two of the 15 winners chosen last week could not be reached, and two alternate winners were chosen from last week's finalists.
Of all eligible residents, the pool was randomly pared down to 200, then winnowed to 50. The final selection was done using a Bingo-style machine, with 50 numbered balls dropping into a twirling cylinder, from which the 15 winners were chosen.
Vista Teen Identified as $50K Winner
A Vista 17-year-old resident was selected in last week's drawing and won $50,000 from California's vaccine incentive program.
Nancy Gutierrez was one of three San Diego County winners last week on California's "Vax for the Win" program to encourage residents to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Since she is under 18, the prize money will be placed into a savings account until she turns 18.
Nancy told Gov. Newsom "they called my mom, and my mom came in and said, 'Nancy, you won't believe it.' And we didn't believe it at the beginning."
During a Q&A with Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday during this week's drawing, Gutierrez said she would encourage everyone to get the vaccine.
(Photo reporting partner 10News)