Winston-Salem Mom, Teacher Is First NC Vaccine Lottery Winner

Governor Roy Cooper and North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen announced Monday the first winners of the state's Your Shot at $1 Million Summer Cash Drawing and Summer Cash 4 College drawing. One of the winners is from the Triad.

A Winston-Salem mom is still in shock after learning that she won $1 million for getting her COVID-19 vaccination. Shelly Wyramon says she didn't believe it when the state called her to tell her that she had won the vaccine lottery drawing.

She says it started to sink in during a video call with NCDHHS Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen. Wyramon is a local schoolteacher and says she felt it was important to get the shot.

“Well, my husband and I have aging parents that we weren't able to spend much time with. I love to teach children and I wasn't able to do that in person, so I wanted to do my small part,” says Wyramon.

Fourteen-year-old Vania Bazen Martinez, a high school freshman in Wilmington also won a $125,000 scholarship toward a college education in the vaccine lottery.

Three more drawings will take place this summer. The next one will be held on July 7.

According to Gov. Cooper, as of Monday, about 55% of the state's adult population and about 81% of the 65 and older population are vaccinated in North Carolina.

Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news