How to find out if you won $50,000 in California’s COVID vaccine lottery

California officials will select the first round of winners in the state’s “Vax for the Win” program on Friday, where 15 people will receive $50,000 prizes for receiving at least one dose of the vaccine. Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to conduct the drawing at 10 a.m.

Find updates here:

• Did you win $50,000 in California’s vaccine lottery? The first 15 winners live in these counties

• Watch: Gavin Newsom selects winners of $50,000 COVID vaccine prizes

And read below to find out how it works, and what you need to know if your number is chosen:

Eligibility

Only California residents 12 and older are eligible to win. Those who were temporarily present in California when they received a vaccine dose are not eligible. You must be identified in the state’s vaccine registry as having received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine at the time of the drawing.

No action is needed by eligible people to be included in the drawings, according to state rules.

In other words, if you were vaccinated in California, you are already automatically entered for all the state’s vaccine incentives, including the $1.5 million grand prize, which will be announced on June 15. People who are vaccinated through the Department of Veterans Affairs and federal facilities are also eligible for the lottery, the governor’s office confirmed.

Immigration status is not a barrier to eligibility, but incarcerated people, employees of the California Department of Public Health, the California State Lottery, the California Health and Human Services Agency, the Government Operations Agency, and the Office of the Governor, and their immediate families, are not eligible.

Lottery selection

To select winners, the California Department of Public Health will provide a list of random number identifiers to the California Lottery. These numbers will correspond with individuals’ identities, but only public health officials will be able to access names and identifying information.

The California Lottery will then randomly pick 10 winners using the numerical identifiers. The drawing will be conducted using “standard practices applicable to drawings that ensure randomness and integrity of the draw,” according to state terms and conditions.

The lottery will then send the selected numbers back to public health officials, who will identify the names of winners and contact selected people.

The random drawing will also include a selection of alternates in case selected persons decline the prizes, are ineligible for the prizes, or cannot be contacted, to ensure all prizes are awarded.

Notifying winners

The names of winners won’t be announced at first, due to federal privacy rules. Winners may be identified to the public following their selection, but only if they give permission to the state to release their name.

Public health officials will try to make contact via telephone. If that doesn’t work, they will make repeated efforts to contact winners via phone, text, email or other contact info provided in the state’s vaccine registry. If the state can’t make contact within 96 hours, the person may no longer be offered a prize and another person may be selected.

The methods, and time and degree of effort used to contact winners is the sole discretion of the state health department.

When you receive a lottery award

If you’re selected as a winner, you won’t receive your reward until you’re fully vaccinated. Some vaccines, such as Johnson & Johnson, only require one dose, while others, like Pfizer and Moderna, require a second dose.

All the cash prizes may be subject to taxes and any public debts which the state of California is aware of, such as unpaid taxes, child support or restitution payments.

If the winner is a minor, the funds will be put into savings, which he or she can access once they turn 18. The prizes are limited to living people.

The state will select 15 people to win $50,000 each on Friday, June 4, and select another 15 people on June 11.

On June 15, the day the state is slated to fully reopen and do away with mask mandates, California officials will select 10 people to win $1.5 million each. Individuals can only win one prize, so if you’re one of the lucky winners of $50,000, don’t expect to win again.

This story was originally published June 4, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "How to find out if you won $50,000 in California’s COVID vaccine lottery."