Vaccination drawing winners excited for football season, safer campus

More than three dozen people won prizes in the second week of The Ohio State University’s Vaccination Prize Drawing, and there are two more chances for vaccinated Ohio State students, faculty and staff to win.

Kristen Schoeff, an office administrative associate in the College of Dentistry, will receive season tickets to home football games as one of four grand prize winners this week.

“I was excited, but I didn’t get vaccinated to win a prize. The vaccination was, in itself, the prize,” Schoeff said.

She and her husband were vaccinated to protect their three young children, she said. Her 11-year-old son is already looking forward to watching the Buckeyes in Ohio Stadium.

“It’s a nice little perk, a little ray of sunshine in the midst of all this COVID business,” she said.

The four-week Vaccination Prize Drawing program offers a total of $50,000 in prizes to students, faculty and staff who have received and reported their COVID-19 vaccination shots. Prizes include gift cards, football season tickets and annual parking permits.

Grace Hill, a third-year social work major, also won football tickets.

“I’ve only been to one football game, and I wasn’t even a Buckeye then. I was at Kent State, and I have transferred since then,” she said. “Then COVID happens, so I haven’t had the chance to really go to a football game as a Buckeye. I’m excited about that.”

Andrew Cohen, a third-year molecular genetics major, and Maria Festing, a research associate in Ohio State’s Comprehensive Cancer Center, won grand prizes as well. Cohen chose tickets and Festing said she would likely choose the parking pass. Both said the contest was helpful at encouraging people to get vaccinated.

“I was already vaccinated and one of my friends told me about the drawing, and I figured I might as well enter it. So it worked,” Cohen said. “I think COVID is still a huge issue and having an emphasis on vaccinations makes the campus a safer place for students and staff. So if providing incentives is what it takes to make that happen, great.”

In addition to the grand prizes, two winners won $1,000 gift cards, four won $500 gift cards, eight won $250 gift cards and 20 won $100 gift cards this week. The same number of grand prizes and gift cards are available each week of the drawing.

Students, faculty and staff can still enter if they haven’t signed up yet. The deadline to enter next week’s drawing is 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, August 22 — and anyone who enters will also be eligible for the following week’s drawing.

Details about eligibility, terms and conditions are at the Safe and Healthy Buckeyes website.

Ohio State is funding the program through the university’s strategic cash reserves. No tuition, donor or tax dollars are being used.