Staff and students from the University of Wyoming are getting the chance to win cash prizes and more for receiving and reporting COVID-19 vaccinations. The program started on July 12 and is running until September 27.
“We hope these incentives will help motivate our students to receive the vaccines, which have been proven to be highly effective and safe, and are key to successfully managing the COVID-19 pandemic,” President Ed Seidel said. “Regardless of where they’re spending the summer, the vaccine is likely readily available to our students in their local communities. For those who aren’t yet vaccinated or who haven’t reported their vaccinations to the university, these prizes provide another reason to take action now.”
Awards include cash prizes, pregame football sideline passes, campus parking passes, dinner with President Seidel, and four grand prizes for students to get their tuition and fees for the semester paid up to $4,500.
“I understand why they’re doing it,” junior Tarron Waterson said. “With state and local governments taking this route and seeing some success, I was expecting the administration to push something like this through sooner or later.”
Waterson and other students say they are excited for the chance to be one of the twelve potential winners.
“Of course, I want to win. Especially the tuition payment,” senior Mikayla Shuppert said. “It’s such an easy thing to do in my opinion. Get the free vaccine and get the chance for some goodies.”
“They claimed there was a notable rise in vaccine rates after they announced the program. I just hope I can still get picked,” junior Kat Pychosvky said.
Sophomore Elijah Redenour, however, is concerned by the fairness of this program.
“I get you want people to be vaccinated. But if there’s someone like me who medically cannot get the vaccination for good reason, it feels a bit exclusive,” Redenour said. “I like the community getting safe and vaccinated, but I wouldn’t mind a chance at those rewards even if I’m held back by allergies.”
While vaccinations are not required for UW students and employees they are instead strongly encouraged.
For employees, a guide to reporting vaccinations has been created to help report vaccinations within UW’s HCM. Article – Self-Report Receipt of COVI… (teamdynamix.com)
Students who receive their COVID-19 vaccinations should upload documentation to the Student Health Service patient portal as soon as their vaccine series is complete. They are required to take a photo of their vaccination document and upload the picture at http://patientportal.uwyo.edu.
Katie Christensen, the University of Wyoming Art Museum’s curator of education and statewide engagement, is one winner of the employee prize drawing.
Christensen received tickets for an event hosted by the UW Department of Theater and Dance.
“I was delighted to win tickets to a theater and dance performance this year. Fully vaccinated to me means we’re all a little safer and campus might be more normal in the fall regarding COVID-19,” Christensen said
Sophia Spicer, a senior Elementary Art Education major was one of the winners for the student drawings. She won the $300 weekly cash prize.
“I got vaccinated first and foremost to protect my friends and family who have not yet had it, and to do my part to prevent the spread,” Spicer said in a statement to UW.
President Seidel and his partner, Gabrielle Allen, are also excited to see the incentive program garner more success.
“Gabrielle and I strongly support these vaccinations, which truly are a triumph of science and are responsible for the declines in COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths across the country,” Seidel said. “We are excited about returning to a traditional semester this fall and, as more students are vaccinated, our community will only feel more confident that it will be a safe and healthy semester as well.”.
As of July 19, 55.3% of all employees report being vaccinated with at least one dose. Student data will be available closer to the Fall semester.
