California's vaccine lottery continued with its second drawing on Friday, awarding 15 more Californians with $50K for getting a COVID vaccine.
Unlike in last week's drawing, there were at least a couple of winners from inland, land-locked counties. But the majority were once again from the SF, LA, and San Diego metro areas, with five winners in the Bay Area. (Remember to watch your phone for unknown calls or anything labeled "State of California," because winners will be contacted by phone first.)
Newsom kicked off Friday's drawing telecast by touting the fact that the state has administered "just shy of 40 million doses of vaccine — that's 15.9 million more doses than the state of Texas, which has the second largest number of vaccinations." California's vaccination rate is double that of Florida, and California now has the lowest COVID case rate of any state in the nation. Newsom noted that that is "significant when you consider the size and scale of this state, and the density in this state."
Newsom also introduced one of last week's drawing winners, adorable 17-year-old Nancy Gutierrez, a high school student from Vista, in San Diego County. Nancy said she was excited to get the vaccine when it became available, and she booked appointments for her parents as well back in May.
Nancy said that when the call came from the state, her mom answered and came in the room saying, "Nancy, you won't believe it..." And while they were incredulous at first, "After a few more phone calls we were like 'I think this might be true.'"
She also put in a plug for getting vaccinated, for anyone who is hesitant — which is the whole reason the state is doing this lottery.
Newsom was down in San Diego for today's telecast, and they patched in the actual ball drawing from State Lottery headquarters in Sacramento — where the people doing the drawing were state legislators Senator Susan Talamantes Eggman and Assemblymember Kevin McCarty along with the Sacramento Kings mascot, in a lion costume.
Today's winners hail from Alameda, San Francisco, San Mateo, Monterey, Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Riverside, Kern, Fresno, and Santa Clara counties — with two from Santa Clara and three from L.A.
On Tuesday, as the state declares its big reopening day, another 10 vaccinated Californians will win $1.5 million apiece.
Previously: You May Want to Answer Unknown Calls For a Couple Weeks As CA's Vaccine Lotto Kicks Off