The United States offers incentives to children who receive coronavirus shots from their state governments, just like they did earlier in the year for adults.
According to a White House estimate, more than a million children have been vaccinated since Nov. 2, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officially endorsed the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine for children aged 5-11 years old.
States are pushing for vaccinations among newly eligible children, despite questions about the effectiveness and efficiency of incentive programs, as the pace of inoculations is slowing among U.S. adults.
As progress in vaccinations slowed, such programs exploded. These programs often included cash payments or lotteries. Sometimes they were to win customized pickup trucks or rifles.
Children have received cash and scholarships as their rewards, but some areas also offer local attractions.
Children in Chicago and Louisiana can get $100 Visa gift cards. New York City also offers $100 prepaid cards, as well as tickets to the Statue at Liberty and Brooklyn Cyclones games.
San Antonio parents who have their children immunized at city clinics are eligible to receive $100 gift cards to H-E-B. The grocery store chain is a Texas institution. Parents can enter their children from 5-11 years old in New York State’s series of drawings to win full-ride college scholarships to any public college or university. There will be 50 winners.
Ohio has launched Vax-2-School, a program that will offer 150 scholarships to Ohio colleges each worth $10,000 and five $100,000 scholarships. Minnesota’s older children, aged 12-17, can win a $200 Visa giftcard and enter a series to win one of five $100,000 Minnesota college scholarship drawings.
West Virginia is offering children the chance of winning educational savings funds. One school will win $100,000 and a holiday party hosted by Gov. Jim Justice and Babydog, his English bulldog. One hundred lifetime fishing and hunting licenses are also available.
Similar to the above, children aged 5-17 in Maine are being asked for creative ideas to encourage their peers to get vaccinated. The state is soliciting 30-second videos from them on the benefits of getting a Covid shot, with an emphasis on “original music or humor,” information on the vaccines’ safety and efficacy, and the dangers of being unvaccinated. The prizes, which will be donated to the filmmakers’ schools, are $50,000 for first place, $25,000 for second place and $10,000 for third place.
Source: NY Times
