Why Schools Are Offering Money, and More, to Get Kids Vaccinated

In Anderson, S.C., high school students received $100 if they got vaccinated against COVID-19. In Phoenix, school leaders are giving out $100 gift cards. In Los Angeles, students have the chance to win gift cards or free prom and homecoming tickets if they get the jab. And in the nation’s largest school district, New York City, children as young as 5 could get paid for getting a COVID-19 vaccination, another example of the lengths to which schools are going as they strive for normalcy after nearly two years of pandemic-disrupted education. Like everything involving schools during the pandemic, from mask mandates to remote learning, the decision to reward kids with money or gifts to do something that most health experts recommend is not without controversy; some critics say it amounts to bribery. But for school districts across the country, if it keeps students and staff safe, it makes sense. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] <strong>“A lot of people smarter than us have worked on this. So to me, it was money well spent.”</strong>“Our youth go home every day to their families, to multigenerational households, to grocery stores, to churches, to parks. There’s no way to separate public education from public health,” says Chad Gestson, superintendent of Phoenix Union High School District in Phoenix. “We know that the higher the vaccination rate, the lower the spread, the minimized quarantines and the increased acces...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 Education nationpod Source Type: news