(Washington, DC) Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced new incentives that will be available to DC youth who receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The incentive program will kick off on Saturday, August 7.
The incentives are only for youth who receive the COVID-19 vaccine, which is highly recommended but not currently considered a required vaccine. Currently, approximately about 25% of all eligible DC youth, or about 8,100 young people, are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
The District is also making it easier for families to get children their required pediatric immunizations before the start of the school year. Beginning Monday, August 2, families will be able to use vaccinate.dc.gov to make an appointment to get their child’s required immunizations at 37 sites across DC. Families will be able to schedule their children ages 3-18 years-old for their routine childhood vaccinations that are needed to go back to school. Additionally, families will have the option to add on a COVID-19 vaccine at the time of scheduling.
Families are reminded that District law and regulations require all schools in the District, including private, parochial, and independent schools, to verify student compliance with immunization requirements as part of enrollment and attendance. Families are also encouraged to call their child’s doctor now to schedule an appointment for their annual physicals and well child visits.
On-Site Youth COVID-19 Vaccine Prizes
Beginning Saturday, August 7, on-site prizes will be available to youth and their parents at three DC Public Schools: Brookland Middle School, Sousa Middle School, and Johnson Middle School*. All DC youth can claim their free COVID-19 vaccine at these sites regardless of which school they attend. At these three schools, youth who receive their first dose can receive a $51 VISA gift card. Additionally, the first 400 youth to get vaccinated at each site will have the option to forgo their gift card and instead receive a pair of AirPods. The AirPods will be available to District youth ages 12 to 17 as well as students ages 18 to 21 and currently enrolled in a DC school seeking a high school diploma.
Parents or guardians who bring their children to one of these three sites are also eligible to receive one $51 VISA gift card per child who gets vaccinated. These sites will operate four days a week from August 7 to September 30.
The $51 VISA gift cards will continue to be available to all DC residents 12 and older who get vaccinated at Anacostia High School or the Dorothy Height/Benning Library.
*When these three sites are open, families can walk-up, no appointment needed to claim their child’s free COVID-19 vaccine. If a family would also like their child to get their required pediatric immunizations at these sites, they will be able to make an appointment through vaccinate.dc.gov. Appointments are needed for required immunizations so that providers have time to access a child’s immunization history.
Youth COVID-19 Vaccine Raffle
All students in DC who are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine will also be eligible to win an iPad or a $25,000 college scholarship. Each week, for four weeks, 10 names will be drawn from a database of students between the ages of 12 and 17. Eight names will be drawn to win an iPad and two names will be drawn for a $25,000 college scholarship that can be used at any college. Once student names are drawn, a District representative will reach out to the family to confirm the student’s vaccination status. If the student is already vaccinated, they will be able to claim their prize. More information about the rules and eligibility will be announced shortly.
Microgrants for Schools
In addition to the on-site prizes and raffle, all 135 public schools that serve students between the ages of 12 and 17 will also receive microgrants to fund their own events and prizes for students who get vaccinated. The microgrants will be distributed based on how many vaccine-eligible students are enrolled at the school – $750 for schools with 1-99 eligible students; $1,500 for schools with 100-250 eligible students; and $3,000 for schools with 250+ eligible students. Schools will be able to use the funding to create their own incentive events or programs.
Pre-registration for Public Testing
It’s best to get testing through your provider, but if you need to use public testing, you can save time in line by visiting coronavirus.dc.gov/register to create a profile from your smartphone, tablet, or computer.