Ohioans can win scholarships for vaccines
Ohioans age 12 to 25 will be eligible to win a $100,000 college scholarship for getting a COVID-19 vaccine shot.
Five $100,000 scholarships and 50 $10,000 scholarships will be given away over five days from Oct. 11 to 15, Gov. Mike Dewine announced Thursday. The money can be used for college or vocational education.
He dubbed the program “Vax-toschool.”
People who have already been vaccinated will be eligible and will have to sign up for the drawing in advance. The scholarships will be paid for with federal coronavirus relief money.
About 46% of Ohioans age 12 to 25 have been vaccinated compared to 84% of Ohioans age 65 and over. More than 32,000 K-12 students have tested positive or been diagnosed with COVID-19 this school year.
“This age group has the most room to grow in getting vaccinated and, with the delta variant in our midst, is the group we’re most concerned will miss in-classroom opportunities if they get or are exposed to COVID-19,” Dewine said.
Ohio was the first state to announce a cash lottery for vaccinated residents. The Vax-a-million contest awarded $1 million to five adults and a four-year university tuition in a college savings account to five teens during June. Dewine has since hinted at more statewide incentives. So far, that has meant helping cities and counties run their own incentives and offering $100 to state employees who get the shot.
Economic studies of the Vax-a-million estimated as many as 200,000 Ohioans got the shot who wouldn’t have. But the boost in shots didn’t last long and mirrored what was seen in other states without a lottery, one study found.
“I can’t guarantee this will work but I
think it’s got a good shot at working, a good chance of working, and it’s worth trying,” Dewine said.
Details were scarce Thursday, but the scholarships will be awarded through contributions to a 529 college savings plan. Such plans can be used for tuition, room and board, books and supplies. Up to $10,000 can be used to pay for private middle or high school education or to repay student loans.
Hospitals describe grim conditions
Hospitalizations among 30-49 year olds are 50% higher than the winter surge, while people over age 70 are being admitted to hospitals at half the rate as in the winter, Ohio Hospitals Association CEO Mike Abrams wrote in a letter to Dewine Thursday.
Abrams said even though the number of inpatients with COVID-19 is about the same as the winter surge – 3,700 on
Thursday – they have fewer staff, especially nurses, to treat them.
“Many nurses have retired or otherwise left the profession because of the immense
physical and mental pressure of caring for so many critically ill patients over such a long period of time,” he wrote on behalf of the organization’s 245 member hospitals. “And those nurses, respiratory therapists, and other clinicians who remain and have withstood the onslaught for 18 months are crying out for help.”
The strain on hospitals doesn’t just affect people with COVID-19, Abrams said, noting that it also delays care for heart attacks, cancer, car accident injuries and more.
“These examples may sound dramatic, and they are,” he wrote. “However, they are also true, and they are happening in Ohio.”
Jackie Borchardt is the bureau chief for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.