More than $5.2 million was allocated by Gov. Kathy Hochul for weekly vaccine scholarship contests. These provide four-year full rides to any SUNY or CUNY school to incentivize 5 to 11-year-olds to get the COVID-19 shot.
Families can apply online for a chance to win free tuition, room and board after their child is vaccinated. Fifty New York children will receive the scholarships.
For 8-year-old Adalynn Visser and her family, the contest has led to a Christmas come early. She is one of the “Vaccinate, Educate, Graduate” vaccine full scholarship winners. Her parents say they are still in shock, and it’s like they won the lottery.
On October 29, the FDA authorized the COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in children 5-11 years of age, leaving parents like the Visser’s with a big decision to make.
Both of them work the front lines.
“I’m a newborn SWAT and labor and delivery nurse at Upstate Community Campus, and my husband’s a firefighter for the Syracuse Fire Department. We just saw a lot of COVID and a lot of sick people from COVID and what it could do, and with the help of our family doctor, Dr. Mincolla, he really helped us make the decision. His kids were in the trial and that helps us feel more comfortable vaccinating our kids,” said Kylie Visser, Adalynn’s mother.
Adalynn remembers the day she got her COVID vaccine at school.
“I was nervous, but it didn’t hurt at all,” she said.
Adalynn’s grandpa told the Vissers about the scholarship program after she had been vaccinated, and they applied online.
“So we took five minutes and filled out the form and received a phone call about two weeks later that Adalynn had won. To be honest with you, I thought it was a used car warranty people calling again. So I was like ‘OK,’ and she explained more in detail and I was like, ‘Oh, she really won a scholarship for a five-minute form.’ We had a bunch of paperwork we had to return to the state. Once we did that, we had a Zoom meeting,” said Adalynn’s dad, Tim Visser.
Adalynn’s scholarship is worth more than $100,000. It will be 10 years before the third-grader can put her prize to use. And when her dad called to tell her the good news, it may have been a little bit more than she could understand.
“He said that I was going to get the ticket to college,” said Adalynn.
“The free room and board, the free tuition, transportation, everything that was included for a four-year scholarship for Adalynn,” her father said.
“It’s a tough decision everybody has to make for themselves,” said Kylie Visser.
Families have until Dec. 19 to enter online for the scholarship drawing.
