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Chloe Zinda, a student at Oregon State University, said she was incredulous when she received a text message from the Oregon Health Authority – the first indication that she had won the $ 1 million jackpot from the ‘State for having vaccinated against COVID-19.
Zinda, who worked as a swimming instructor, said she showed the text to one of her colleagues and then sent it to her relatives, asking them all, “Is this a scam?
Later that day, at her McMinnville home, she spoke by phone to state officials and learned that she was indeed Oregon’s newest millionaire. And probably among the youngest, although she did not specify her age at a press conference on Friday.
“I was so shocked,” said a beaming Zinda, Governor Kate Brown standing by her side. “I ran downstairs and was just screaming and running. Yeah, that was crazy.
Brown announced the creation of the “Take Your Shot, Oregon” lottery campaign seven weeks ago as a strategy to increase the slowdown in vaccinations. Although the campaign did not appear to have turned out to be the strong motivator state officials were hoping for – without an increase in statewide vaccinations that could be clearly attributed to the push to the lottery – state officials still celebrated some overall wins.
“I am absolutely delighted that over 2.4 million Oregonians have received their first vaccine,” Brown said.
Just over 70% of adults in Oregon are at least partially inoculated. Taking all ages into account, 59% were partially vaccinated and 54% were fully vaccinated. That’s four to six percentage points ahead of the national average – ranking Oregon 17th among states for partial vaccinations and 12th for full vaccinations.
Zinda was randomly selected on June 28 from more than 2.2 million Oregon adults who received at least one dose of the vaccine by June 27.
The state also selected five vaccinated youth aged 12 to 17 as recipients of $ 100,000 college scholarships and 36 adults who had earned $ 10,000 each – one in each of the state’s three dozen counties. At least 10 counties have also softened the offers by using federal coronavirus relief money to distribute more prizes to vaccinated residents – ranging from $ 2,500 to $ 20,000. Washington County, the only one in the Portland area to do so, has decided to award 10 additional prizes of $ 10,000 each and five additional university scholarships of $ 20,000 each.
But the state only announced Zinda’s $ 1 million prize on Friday and has yet to say who the other winners are. Officials did not say when they would, but said the news would be shared “in the coming weeks. as the winners are notified. They gave no explanation for the delay in notifying winners or announcing their names, and previously said they hoped to make the announcements by the end of this week.
Zinda said she never imagined getting the shot would lead her to position herself before the podium on Friday. She said she decided to get the vaccine for many reasons, including to protect the young people she teaches to swim.
She plans to spend the money to pay off her college debts and pursue an artistic career by opening an art studio.
“This money is going to really change my life,” Zinda said. “… I’m really excited about what the future holds for me.” “
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– Aimée Verte; [email protected]; @o_aimee
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