Winston-Salem teacher, mom wins NC's first $1 million COVID vaccination lottery

Gov. Roy Cooper announced Shelly Wyramon as the first "instant millionaire" after being vaccinated.

"I was overwhelmed. I still don't believe it. Who believes they're going to win $1 million?" said Wyramon, who has 20 years of teaching experience.

She wasn't convinced she'd won until she actually got a video call from Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services.

When asked why she got vaccinated, she said, "My husband and I have aging parents, ... and I love to teach children."

She said she wanted to have more time with those she loved.

Fourteen-year-old Vania Bazan Martinez, a high school freshman in Wilmington, won a $125,000 scholarship toward a college education as part of the Summer Cash 4 College drawing.

Martinez said she chose to get vaccinated after losing a loved one to the coronavirus.

“It shocked me, she was like my grandma because I never had a grandma. And I was crushed," she said. "Maybe if she did have the vaccine, it wouldn’t have gone further than what it did."

First $1M vaccination winner selected, but name won't be revealed for days

If you didn't win, don't give up yet! The drawing was the first of four $1 million cash prizes North Carolina will award to people 18 or older for being vaccinated against coronavirus.

Three more Summer Cash 4 College drawings also will be held in which students ages 12 to 17 who have received at least one dose of the vaccine are eligible to win $125,000 scholarships to the college of their choice. Each award will be placed in an NC 529 college savings plan account.

The state set up the incentive program to boost coronavirus vaccination rates. Anyone 18 or older who has received at least one shot of vaccine is eligible, and people who got the shot on or after June 10 were entered twice.

The drawings will be held every other Wednesday through Aug. 4. The cutoff for each drawing is the preceding Sunday, so any vaccination information must be by then to be eligible. The deadline for the final drawing would be Aug. 1.

DHHS will contact each winner by phone or email, and they have 48 hours to accept the prize. The $1 million prizes are considered income and are subject to state and federal withholding taxes.