College scholarships available 'for students under 18 who get their vaccines' in Harris County

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said that students under the age of 18 that get vaccinated could receive college scholarships. 

According to a Harris County Public Health release, the new incentive to get those under the age of 18 to get vaccinated is "a public outreach campaign to increase awareness of the availability of COVID-19 vaccines administered by Harris County Public Health and provide incentives to residents to increase vaccine uptake."

"We’re funding college scholarships for students under 18 who get their vaccines with Harris County Public Health. Your vaccine is your ticket to win $5K toward college! We’ll be raffling one scholarship/week for vaccinated students," Judge Hidago wrote in a tweet.

The release said that 10 students will be award the scholarship based on them getting vaccinated and awards can be used for traditional college, trade school or vocational pursuits up to $5,000.

"Residents under the age of 18 who were previously vaccinated at any HCPH vaccination site or will get vaccinated at an HCPH site will be eligible for the scholarship raffle," the release said. "Drawings for contest winners will be conducted weekly beginning June 10. There will be one drawing each week for 10 consecutive weeks, as shown in the schedule here."

To be eligible for the scholarship, students must be under the age of 18 when receiving the first of two doses of vaccine or the one-shot vaccine. 

To enter the program, one must register for an appointment at a HCPH COVID-19 vaccine location or call the HCPH COVID Hotline at 832-927-8787.

For any questions, email HCPHVaccineScholarship@phs.hctx.net.