School Custodian Winner of Maryland’s VaxCash Lottery

Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 paid off for a school custodian who was one of the winners of Maryland’s daily VaxCash lottery drawings, WUSA-TV reports.

Tabatha Duckett, a school custodian at La Plata High School in La Plata, Maryland, received US$40,000 in Maryland’s $2 Million VaxCash promotion, a contest announced by Governor Larry Hogan on May 20. Each day through July 3, all Maryland residents 18 and over are automatically entered into daily drawings for a chance to win an incentivize $40,000 prize for getting vaccinated against COVID-19. On July 4, one winner will receive the grand $400,000 prize. Funds are provided by the Maryland Lottery’s marketing fund.

Duckett told WUSA-TV that she was unaware of the VaxCash Promotion until receiving a call from the Maryland Department of Health while she was cleaning the administrative offices at the high school. “I don’t even play the lottery, so this was a huge surprise,” Duckett said.

Duckett had signed up to get her COVID-19 vaccination back in March to protect herself and her family. “Throughout it all, we were sanitizing areas, and taking care of the folks that would be in the school, so the virus was always on our minds,” Duckett said.

Her husband contracted COVID-19 earlier this year and rode out the severe symptoms at home. “I didn’t want to get sick, and I wanted to protect my grandkids, my mother, and my sisters too,” she said.

Duckett visited the Maryland Lottery Headquarters on June 8 to claim her prize. She plans to share a portion of the money with her family.