The Los Angeles Board of Education incentive program to encourage students to take the COVID-19 vaccine is coming to a close, but not before thousands of dollars in gift cards and amusement park tickets are expected to be awarded.
The deadline for COVID-19 vaccinations is days away, with about 72% of students in compliance, and an estimated $5 million for prizes, including gift cards to Amazon and Target, and tickets to Disneyland and Universal Studios, available as incentive to meet the deadline.
School district officials also announced weekly coronavirus testing for all students and adults is coming to an end when winter break begins in December, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times. The school district has administered 500,000 test a week, at an estimated cost of $350 million.
The district’s incentive program is set to end during the week of Dec. 15, with a prize of $25,000 awarded to one school. Other prizes include tickets to Six Flags Magic Mountain, “Hamilton,” an LAFC soccer game, and gift cards.
The program was part of an effort to boost vaccination rates by Sunday, the Los Angeles Unified School District’s self-imposed deadline for students 12 and older to receive the vaccine.
Students in the L.A. Unified School District must be fully vaccinated by Jan. 10, the start of the spring semester, or they will not be allowed on campuses.
According to the Times, the percentage of students who have taken at least one dose or otherwise complied with the vaccine requirement is about 71.9%. School board member Jackie Goldberg told the Times, based on an internal briefing, about 64% of students are fully vaccinated.
