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DENVER (KDVR) – A Colorado healthcare worker is the first of five people in the Centennial State to win $1 million through the Colorado Comeback Cash drawing.

Sally Sliger from Mead accepted a large check from Gov. Jared Polis on Friday, with her husband by her side.

Sliger got her first shot in March and her second in April, long before the governor rolled out the Colorado Comeback Cash incentive.

She said she never thought she would be the lucky winner.

“It’s very surreal. I absolutely have not gotten use to this in fact at all yet,” Sliger told FOX31.

She and her husband Chris said they are still in disbelief that they are now $1 million richer — just from being vaccinated.

“We didn’t talk about the possibility. No, not at all,” Sliger said about her chances of winning.

The governor’s office said Sliger was the first person drawn from the system among the millions entered.

“They pick a randomly generated number from the roughly 3.9 or 4 million people who at least received one vaccination dose. That winning number is then translated into a name, and that person is contacted — as Sally was on Wednesday — to be made aware that she was the winner,” Polis said.

The Longmont native is a clinical data analysis worker in Lafayette. She said she was not even checking to see if her name was in the system when she got word of her win.

“I got a text message from an individual at the Colorado Department of Health and Environment, just requesting me to phone back as soon as I could. I knew the program existed but I hadn’t checked the CIIS website,” Sliger said.

While they are not sure exactly what they’ll do with the cash yet, they are recommending that everyone get a shot.

“I think it works, and I think it’s a lot less risky than trying to roll the dice on something that may or may not turn out well for you,” Chris Sliger said.

The lottery is an incentive for residents to get the COVID-19 vaccine. After Friday’s announcement, there are still four $1 million drawings to go. Anyone who got the vaccine before June 1 is eligible in the first drawing.

Wondering if you are eligible? Here’s the simplest way to verify you’re in the system for Colorado’s vaccine lottery.