Want to win $25? Get vaccinated.

June 29, 2021, 10:22 p.m.

Stanford will give away $500 worth of gift cards weekly to students who upload proof of their vaccination status, Vaden Health Center announced in a Monday email.

Stanford will draw 20 winners of $25 gift cards to Amazon, DoorDash and Starbucks each Thursday between July 1 and Aug. 5, for a total of $3,000 worth of prizes over the course of six drawings. All new and continuing undergraduate and graduate students are eligible.

Entry is automatic after uploading vaccination documentation to Vaden’s health portal or receiving an approved extension or religious or medical exemption.

The introduction of the giveaway follows similar efforts in California and other states to incentivize vaccination. The state recently announced plans to give away over $116.5 million dollars through lotteries and gift card incentives, though it is unclear if the money has proven effective at increasing vaccination rates.

Though Stanford’s raffle could also act as an additional incentive for students, vaccination remains a requirement for all students, staff and faculty who do not have exemptions ahead of fall quarter. Students who fail to provide documentation by the July 23 deadline or receive an exemption will not be able to register for fall classes.

The giveaway aims to encourage students to submit their information “as soon as possible,” wrote Vaden Health Center executive director James Jacobs in an email to The Daily. Jacobs also said he hopes the giveaway will improve the workflow of information into Vaden’s system and minimize potential autumn quarter course registration delays.

Students with questions about the vaccine requirements should visit the University’s FAQ page.

Sam Catania ’24 is the Volume 262 Editor in Chief of The Daily. Previously, he was Chief Technology Officer, the producer of the weekly video roundup, a news beat reporter covering COVID-19 on Stanford's campus and the assessment team leader of The Daily's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) team. Sam hails from Philadelphia and is studying Symbolic Systems. You can follow him on Twitter @sbcatania. Contact him at scatania 'at' stanforddaily.com

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