Vaccinated Veterans May Not Yet Be Entered To Win $1 Million Prize

AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) – Workers with Stride Community Health were putting more shots into arms on Thursday, at a vaccination event designed to get to young people and underserved communities.

Among those who showed up was Denise Southerland, who brought her grandson Zion for his shot.

"Some people need a little bit of motivation, I didn't," she said about the lottery announced by Gov. Jared Polis for people who are vaccinated. Sutherland, who works in a dental office, was vaccinated early this year through Denver Health Medical Center.

The state says she's automatically entered for the lottery because her vaccination record should be in the Colorado Immunization Information System -- and that will be used to pick the winners.

The state has also opened a portal for people to check on whether they are in the system here.

Sutherland tried to check, which turned out to be a problem, at first on an Android phone. The birthdate would not adjust. Then with her grandson's help on his phone she checked, and was soon locked out of the system for 30 minutes.

She's not alone. Others are having troubles getting into the newly opened system and finding their records.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment declined an interview request, but sent a statement on the issues that included:

"While there could be a slight lag between vaccinations and providers entering the information in the system, we are confident the majority of providers are entering information in a timely manner. 89% of all COVID doses have been reported to CIIS within 72 hours."

The health department suggested the problems were matching data if people cannot find their vaccination entry.

"It is most likely because the information the provider reported does not exactly match what individuals are entering."

Still, there are some entities that do not report to the CIIS. Among them, the US Military and Veterans Administration, meaning vets are not currently among those who will get a chance at the lottery.

"We are working with the Department of Veterans Affairs to find a solution to ensure they are eligible for the prize," said the CDPHE in a separate statement to our inquiry.

Denver Health Medical Center spokeswoman April Valdez Villa, said their medical records system is supposed to talk to the state's CIIS automatically, but it appears that's not always happening. She said it's not clear where the issues might be, including whether there's a problem with the newly opened state portal.

Sutherland finally did get into the system, but did not find her vaccination records.

"I did get the shot though, I have a card."

She says she wasn't motivated by the thought of money to get vaccinated in the first place.

"I didn't do it for the money anyway, I did it for my grandson."

After Zion got his shot she said she'd be happy because, "Everybody in the home will be vaccinated."