Retired Santa Fe nurse among first $250K winners in vaccine sweepstakes
Jun. 23—Ruth Meilstrup was traveling in Southern New Mexico when she got a ping on her phone early Tuesday afternoon.
It was a text and voicemail from the Governor's Office, telling her she'd won a quarter-million dollars in cash.
"I was in total disbelief," Meilstrup said in a phone interview. "I honestly was wondering if it was a scam."
It was anything but: Meilstrup, a retired nurse from Santa Fe, was one of four winners in the state Department of Health's Vax 2 the Max sweepstakes, created as an incentive in New Mexico's COVID-19 vaccination push.
After verifying the call and text were legitimate, Meilstrup said she was stunned to be one of the four winners selected in Friday's drawing and revealed Tuesday.
"There's not much to say," she said. "It's exciting, it's strange and I'm still pinching myself."
Meilstrup, 72, has been retired for seven years after a 31-year career as a nurse at the Santa Fe Indian Hospital. She lives in the city close to one of her sons, Andrew; the other, Peter, resides in Seattle.
She said she received both COVID-19 vaccinations in March in Santa Fe, though she noted she almost went to Alamosa, Colo., to receive the inoculation. She stayed home, however, upon learning it was her turn to get the shot.
Meilstrup said her late husband, David Meilstrup, died last year of glioblastoma, a type of cancer, but she feels this bit of good news is him watching over her. The drawing, she wrote in an email, was held on the first anniversary of his death.
Three other New Mexicans — Phillip Perez, 53, of Albuquerque; Linda Tobkin, 68, of Ruidoso; and Taylor Brooke Provencio, 23, of Chamberino in Doña Ana County — also were among the first winners in the sweepstakes, each from a different public health region of the state.
June was the first of five drawings each giving away a total of $1 million throughout the summer, according to a news release from the Department of Health. The following drawings are scheduled for July 2, July 16, July 23 and July 30, with a $5 million grand prize drawing set for August. The money is being pulled from a $10 million cash fund backed by federal stimulus dollars.
Since the financial incentive programs began, the New Mexico vaccination website saw an increase in visitors last week versus the preceding week and a 250 percent increase in first-time visitors week over week, according to the Department of Health.
As of late afternoon Tuesday, Meilstrup was still waiting for instructions on how to receive her prize. She said she doesn't know what she'll do with the money, just the second cash prize she's won in her life — she once got $36 from a lottery scratcher ticket.
Tuesday's news brought her a whole different kind of luck.
"I really don't have any idea what to do yet," she said. "I figured I'll probably have to talk to somebody financial to see what's the best way to handle this."
