California selects another 15 winners in vaccine lottery

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California selected another 15 people on Friday to win $50,000 each just for getting the coronavirus vaccine amid hopes from state officials that the chance of winning big money will convince skeptics to get inoculated ahead of the state's broad reopening next week.

The lottery-style drawing selected winners from the nearly 22 million Californians who have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. State officials identified the winners by what county they lived in, with plans to contact them in the coming days.

Fifteen other people won the prize last week. But state officials could not reach two of them. The two were replaced by alternate winners in Sacramento and Monterey counties, Gov. Gavin Newsom said.

In addition to the $50,000 prizes, the state has pledged to give $50 gift cards to 2 million people who get vaccinated.

But the big prize will be handed out on Tuesday, when Newsom will oversee a drawing where 10 people will win $1.5 million each. Newsom has said that on that same day he will lift the state's stay-at-home order and end most restrictions on businesses — including allowing fully vaccinated people to stop wearing masks under most circumstances.

One of last week's $50,000 winners was 17-year-old Nancy Gutierrez, who is about to finish her junior year of high school in the San Diego area. Newsom indicated the money would go into a savings account because Gutierrez is under 18.

“My only advice: Don't spend all that money. Invest it in your future and in your mind,” Newsom told her during a news conference in Vista, California, that was streamed on the governor's social media channels.

Gutierrez appeared with Newsom at the news conference, smiling while holding a microphone and answering questions from the governor...