Meet Michigan's 1st COVID-19 Vaccine Lottery Winners

LANSING, MI — The first four winners of Michigan's COVID-19 vaccination lottery said Wednesday they chose to get vaccinated for a variety of reasons, including being tired of wearing masks, wanting to take a trip to Cancun and wanting a chance at winning money as part of the state's new incentive to get people vaccinated.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced the four winners Wednesday afternoon during a virtual news conference in which she was joined by University of Michigan Softball Coach Carol Hutchins and Protect Michigan Commission Director Kerry Singh.

"I encourage you if you have gotten your shot, get registered online," Whitmer said Wednesday. "These safe, effective COVID vaccines will keep you and your family and your community safe, and the most vulnerable among us safe as well. We are fortunate to have them and we're going to continue to make efforts to reach out to people across the state, meet them where they are, answer questions and help them get their shots."

See More: MI Hopes Its COVID Lottery Finds More Success Than Other States

The announcement originally was scheduled to take place Monday, but officials opted to give prize winners five days to sign and have notarized an Affidavit of Eligibility and other legal forms.

Officials have said the goal of the lottery is to increase the state's vaccination rate by about 9 percent in order to reach the statewide goal of having 70 percent of residents 16 and older vaccinated.

Whitmer said that as of Wednesday, the sweepstakes has received 1.7 million applicants for the grand prize. More than 78,000 young Michiganders have signed up for scholarship awards, as well, Whitmer said.

The MI Shot To Win Sweepstakes is the latest kickoff in a series of lottery-style raffles by other states such as Ohio's first-in-the-nation launch of the "Vax-a-Million" campaign. But Michiganders are hopeful their state will find more success at using the campaign as a means to increase vaccinations.

The Vax-a-Million lottery did not significantly impact Ohio's COVID-19 vaccination rates, a study from Boston University found.

In fact, reports of increasing vaccination rates following Gov. Mike DeWine's announcement of the lottery — which have been cited by the Whitmer administration in its announcement of a similar campaign in the Mitten State — likely were the result of expanding eligibility to people younger than 16, the study concluded.

See More: MI Hopes Its COVID Lottery Finds More Success Than Other States

MI Shot To Win Sweepstakes Winners

The winners include a General Motors factory worker and a registered nurse, and two of them talked about why they signed up to be vaccinated and what they planned to do with the money.

Amber Berger, New Baltimore — Berger said she is a registered nurse who also is a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister and an aunt. She said she got her vaccine on July 1 at Henry Ford Hospital in Clinton Township.

"I got it for a couple of different reasons," Berger said. "One of them is because I want to go on vacation and to also help keep everyone safe."

Adrienne Peterson, Southfield — Peterson did not speak during Wednesday's news conference, but Singh said she was planning on using her winnings to buy a new house.

Christopher Ackerman, Detroit — Ackerman said he did not have any immediate plans for the $50,000 he won be getting vaccinated, noting it was a surprise.

"I'm happy I got vaccinated," he said. "First off, you know, (I'm) safe, keep my family safe, and now look, I just won some money.

"So, Michigan, let's all get out and get vaccinated so we can go back to a better Michigan."

Larita Lee, Wyoming — Lee also didn't speak at Wednesday's news conference but was said to have gotten vaccinated due to the sweepstakes. She plans to use her winnings on a down payment on a new house, officials said.