Two vaccine lottery winners forfeit $50K, California officials move on to find alternates

2nd California vaccine lottery

The second California vaccine lottery will take place today

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Two vaccinated California residents who won $50,000 in a state lottery never came forward and therefore, forfeited a $50,000 prize, state health officials said, prompting them to seek a new pair of winners.

California Department of Health spokeswoman Sami Gallegos said that officials tried several times to reach two of the 15 "Vax for the Win" lottery winners picked last week. They were not identified by name, but Gallegos said they live in San Diego and Santa Clara counties.

Because those two could not be reached by the Thursday deadline, Gallegos said state officials moved on to the next two in line, choosing winners from Sacramento County and Monterey County.

As of Friday, state officials said they had reached both winners from Monterey and Sacramento counties.

So far, Gov. Newsom's office has only identified one guy named "Tony" as a winner; Newsom tweeted a video of Tony saying how grateful he was for the cash earlier this week. Tony was not identified by last name or place of residence.

Fifteen new vaccine lottery winners will be drawn on Friday; each has the chance to win $15,000.

However, the big prize of $1.5 million will be drawn on June 15, when California finally reopens. Ten people have a chance to earn that prize.

The state has a database for all vaccination records and the state Department of Health will contact winners by telephone, text, email or other contact information associated with the person’s record in the state’s vaccine registry.

Winners must complete their vaccination in order to claim their prize.

If someone under 18 wins, the cash will be put in a savings account for them until they turn 18.

For more information about Vax for the Win, please visit https://covid19.ca.gov/vax-for-the-win.

1st drawing in California's lottery kicks off: Win up to $1.5M