CA To Award 6 'Dream Vacations' To Vaccinated Californians

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Dangling yet another carrot to entice Californians to get vaccinated on the eve of the state's reopening day, Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled "California Dream Vacations."

On July 1, another vaccine incentive drawing will be held to select six dream vacation packages for the following locations: San Francisco, Anaheim, Los Angeles, Palm Springs and San Diego.

"And you can't think of California without thinking about the Ritz Carlton..." Newsom said, speaking from the Port of San Francisco on Monday. "At least I'm told the Ritz Carlton down in Palm Springs is spectacular."

Some vacation packages will include benefits such as floor seats to a Lakers game, Legoland tickets, SeaWorld tickets or tickets to Disneyland. Lodging will be covered by the state, and winners will receive an additional $2,000 to pad their travel budget.

The incentive is meant to inject funding into the state's beleaguered tourism industry, which took a heavy hit during the pandemic.

"This sector, travel and tourism, was hardest hit. We all know that this was 10 times the size of 9/11," said Caroline Beteta, president and CEO of Visit California. "More than 55 percent of spending evaporated overnight."

READ MORE: 4 Things To Know About Mask Rules When California Reopens

In the pre-pandemic world, California pulled in some $145 billion per year just in visitor spending, Beteta said on Monday.

"We're still looking at four more years until we get back to those 2019 numbers," she said. "One of the key issues for us to get California back on track and shorten this recovery curve is to encourage Californians to travel in California — It's like a modern-day act of patriotism."

The new incentive was added to the state's existing $116.5 million "Vax for the Win" program, which has already awarded 30 vaccinated residents $50,000 each from counties across the state. Some 21 million Californians were entered to win that prize.

On Tuesday, the day the state reopens, 10 additional vaccinated winners will be drawn to receive $1.5 million each.

The state also partnered with Taco Bell, Chipotle, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Golden State Warriors and the Team LA Store at STAPLES Center to shell out more vaccine incentives on Tuesday.

"[We] want to remind people of the opportunity with California reopening tomorrow — no more physical distancing requirements, no more caps on occupancy. [We're] moving beyond the blueprint, aligning with the CDC on mask mandates and that all goes into effect at midnight tonight."

Newsom said the state has seen a 13.8 percent increase in vaccine administrations since the state initiated the incentive program.

"We are confident these vaccine incentives have worked," Newsom said. "And that's why we want to continue in that spirit."

About 72 percent of Californians 18 and older have received at least one shot, Newsom said on Monday. And more than 55 percent of Californians are fully vaccinated, according to state data recorded on Monday.

The state now has the third-lowest positivity rate in the nation as it moves to reopen fully on Tuesday.

READ MORE: 5 Things To Know About California's Reopening Day

California will undoubtedly celebrate this milestone, with some bars giving out free beer and Santa Monica's Pier lighting up red, white and blue to mark the day.

The state will throw out its stringent reopening blueprint and lift most masking requirements.

"I want to thank 40 million Californians strong for what you've endured, the stress and anxiety, the fear many people had," Gov. Gavin Newsom said during a news briefing Friday. "It's been a very challenging time for everybody and I'm very encouraged that we are where we are."

California's workforce regulators are set to vote on finalized coronavirus rules for workers on Thursday. Their ruling was expected to determine whether unvaccinated residents who work indoors will have to wear masks while working among others.

However, Newsom assured Monday that Cal/OSHA would likely align with guidance from the state and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Masks will still be required inside K-12 campuses and on public transit, so Californians shouldn't trash their masks just yet.

What's more, anyone who is unvaccinated will technically be required to wear a mask indoors but there won't be any kind of universal state system to enforce this rule, Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state's health secretary, confirmed on Wednesday.

"We are not requiring businesses to, for example, have somebody at the door checking for vaccine status as a way to comply with this," Ghaly said.

Newsom also said Monday that the state is working to develop a vaccine verification system, which he clarified, would not be a requirement or any kind of "passport," but instead, simply a way to display a vaccination record digitally.

"It's just the ability now to have an electronic version of that paper version and so you'll hear more about that in the next couple of days," he said.

Despite chatter of California's progress, the California Nurses Association issued a desperate plea on Monday.

"Please, please just keep your masks on when you are indoors and in crowds," said Zenei Triunfo-Cortez, RN and a president of the state's nurses association. "It’s such a simple but effective way of preventing Covid-19. This pandemic is not over. We still have upwards of 10,000 new infections and hundreds of deaths per day.

"Not even half the U.S. population is fully vaccinated. And some of the new variants are highly contagious and incredibly troubling. Please keep on masking to protect yourselves and your families."