COMPTON (KNX 1070) -- Amid rising COVID-19 cases driven by the highly contagious Delta variant, a state lawmaker is begging people to get vaccinated if they have not yet done so.
“I want to speak to the young people. The message is that you are not invincible or invulnerable from this virus. It is absolutely important that you get inoculated,” said Assemblyman Mike Gipson.
Gipson pressed young people to get vaccinated at a ceremony presenting a $50,000 check to a vaccinated Compton resident who won one of the state’s lottery prizes.
Pamela Jackson, who won the big money prize, said she decided to get the vaccine before the state lottery was announced.
“I have hypertension. That’s an underlying illness. I didn’t want to get sick,” said Jackson.
She also encouraged others to get the jab. As for her winnings, Jackson said she plans to pay bills and take a family trip next year.
The lottery was part of the state’s Vax for the Win program, which aimed to incentivize vaccinations. According to CDC figures, it worked. Figures from the CDC show that the number of weekly shots delivered jumped by 40,000 or 33 percent in the first week of June. The numbers dipped a bit in the second week of the month, but were still well ahead of May’s average.