Sherman and Wasco County Vaccine Lottery Winners Talk About Why They Got Vaccinated
Roberta Aldrich of Sherman County and Terrence Shown of Wasco County each won $10,000 in the “Take Your Shot Oregon” COVID-19 vaccine lottery. A $10,000 winner was picked for each county.
Aldrich, who lives in Moro, said, “I got the vaccine because my cardiologist recommended it and we live in a multi-generational household. I’m over 65 but I’m raising my grandson who is 18, and I’m taking care of my parents who are in their 80s.”
She also got the same advice from her primary care doctor, she said, “So we made up our minds real quick to get that vaccination.”
Her whole family is vaccinated. “We’re working together as a family just to keep everyone safe and that worked out really, really well for us,” she said of her winnings. She’s using her windfall to pay down on the mortgage, calling the money “a blessing.”
Roberta Aldrich
“We encourage everyone to get the vaccine, even harder now with this new variant coming out,” she said of the Delta variant. This week, Delta accounted for all of the sampling of COVID tests that were sequenced in Oregon.
Aldrich’s mom has cancer, “we just don’t take the chance. We don’t want to be the bad effect of anybody in our community getting it, so we took those steps very early.”
In Wasco County, Terrence Shown said he got the vaccine earlier this year because, “I’m over 80 years old and by God I’ve got to live a lot longer.”
Shown, who is 87, was in the Marine Corps for 26 years, serving in both Korea and Vietnam. After leaving the military, he owned a glass shop in Arizona for 25 years. He moved to Wasco County almost 10 years ago.
He does try to talk others into getting the vaccine, “but you know how it is. I don’t care, that’s their problem, not mine.”
As for his unexpected winnings, it’s sitting in the bank.
Gilliam County’s winner, Robert Shelby, did not want to be featured in a press release. County-level awards, using incentive funds, were also made in Sherman and Gilliam counties but winners have not been announced yet. Additional prizes in Sherman County will be announced at the Sherman County Fair Aug. 17-21.
Wasco County used that incentive money to give $50 gift cards to every Wasco County resident who receives their first dose of vaccine. All local pharmacies, plus Mid-Columbia Medical Center, One Community Health and Deschutes Rim Clinic in Maupin are participating, as well as NCPHD.
To book an appointment for a vaccine at North Central Public Health District, call 541-506-2600.
(For more information, please visit COVID-19 Vaccine in Oregon, contact North Central Public Health District at (541) 506-2600, visit us on the web at www.ncphd.org or find us on Facebook.)