By Steven Bonifazi
(DENVER, Colo.) Colorado announced Wednesday that the state will award five vaccinated students between the ages of 12 through 17 each week with $50,000 for five weeks to further incentivize COVID-19 vaccinations amongst young people.
The program, titled Comeback Cash Scholarship, will provide a total of 25 students who have received at least one dose of the Pfizer vaccine with scholarships. This announcement comes nearly a week after the state announced they would be giving away five $1 million drawings to vaccinated Coloradans, with one resident winning each week.
"Today we're proud to announce that we will be offering 25 $50,000 scholarships to randomly selected 12 to 17-year-olds who are vaccinated," said Gov. Jared Polis in a press conference Wednesday. "The money will simply be deposited in a college invest account and it will be there for them whether they go to school in-state, out of state, all forms of eligible education expenditures."
Funding for the scholarships comes from The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that was put in place in March of last year to help with the economic losses brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gov. Jared Polis also stated in the press conference that students younger than 17 who win one of the scholarships and do not plan on going to college soon will have the opportunity for that money to grow by the time they go to college. Additionally, he stated that the final drawing will be announced on July 9.
Students who are eligible will be automatically entered into the scholarship drawings.