Thanks a million, says vax winner
JOANNE Zhu never thought that by the age of 25 she would be a millionaire.
But that dream became a reality after the Sydney woman got the “unexpected” call during her coffee break that she had won the milliondollar vaccine lottery on Friday.
She was one of more than 2.74 million Australians who had received at least one dose of the Covid vaccine by the competition cut-off date and were in the running for the $1m cash prize.
A group of philanthropists and corporations known as the Million Dollar Vax Alliance launched the hard-to-resist campaign in October in a bid to boost national vaccination rates.
Ms Zhu celebrated her new wealth on Saturday as Australia hit the vaccine milestone of 80 per cent of eligible adults double jabbed.
“I was excited and in disbelief when they told me I had won. I cannot believe it’s true,” she said. “My family are all in China and when I told them I won last night they couldn’t believe it either. They were so happy for me.”
Ms Zhu, who has lived in Australia for nearly a decade, said her family would be the first to benefit from the cash, as she gave back to “the very people who supported me”.
“My parents spent so much money to support me during my study here in Sydney, so I think I will buy them presents at the very least,” she said. “I want to also invite them to Sydney again to have a luxury trip when the borders open.
“And I’ll spend the money also on travel, presents for myself, dinner and food for my friends.
“But I will also need to think about how to invest to make more money in my future so that one day I can have abilities to help more people that need help.”
The alliance has been handing out 100 gift cards every day worth $1000.