Here are the counties with winners in California’s $15 million vaccine lottery

Gov. Gavin Newsom celebrated California’s reopening date during a press conference at Universal Studios by announcing 10 winners of the $15 million grand prize in the state’s vaccine lottery program.

The event marked the first day Californians could shed COVID-19 habits like mask wearing, social distancing and adhering to venue capacity limits.

“Today is about hugging again,” Newsom said. “Today is about reaching out with the serendipity of life, meeting strangers, having the opportunity to experience all the wonders of the world at Universal Studios. Today is a day to celebrate the incredible journey we’ve been on over the last 15 months.”

Flanked by minions and trolls during the event at the Los Angeles theme park, Newsom then awarded $1.5 million each to 10 Californians to mark the end of the historically challenging era. Helen Cordova, a Kaiser Permanente nurse who was the first in the state to receive the COVID-19 shot, and Access Hollywood personality Scott Evans helped Newsom draw the winners.

Four of the lucky residents came from Los Angeles County, and one each are from Marin, Riverside, Santa Barbara, Stanislaus, Ventura and Sacramento counties.

Two winners from Sacramento County have already won in other drawings.

“We have given away almost $15 million,” the governor, during his best impersonation of a game show host, said during the eighth drawing. “That’s a lot of damn money!”

The $15 million pot is the largest award in Newsom’s Vax for the Win program that he announced last month as part of a statewide effort to increase vaccination rates. Other awards included $50,000 to 30 winners and $100 million in $50 prepaid gift cards for recently vaccinated Californians. On Monday, Newsom also announced six vacation packages as part of the program.

An L.A. County resident who previously won $50,000 joined Newsom onstage to accept her oversized check. The woman said she lived paycheck to paycheck and wanted to buy a new car and laptop and to take a trip to Portugal.

“It’s difficult month to month,” she said. “I need a new car.”

Employees and immediate family members in the Governor’s Office, the California State Lottery, the Government Operations Agency the Department of Public Health and the Health and Human Services Agency aren’t eligible to win. Incarcerated people are also excluded from the drawing, as are those who got vaccinated outside of California.

In total, California has administered 39.5 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a June 13 statewide data update. More than 18 million people are fully vaccinated, and another 3.7 million are partially vaccinated.

Representatives for hard-hit Los Angeles County, Supervisor Hilda Solis, Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian and Sen. Bob Hertzberg, joined Newsom during the drawing to both celebrate the occasion and urge their constituents to stay vigilant and get vaccinated.

“We still have a ways to go. In communities of color...we still have a number of people that aren’t convinced that they need to get vaccinated,” Solis said. “And it’s not just the Latinx community. It’s the African-American community. It’s the poor communities, communities where essential workers are. We can’t forget them.”