A stadium suite on game day or $5,000 cash. UM is raffling prizes for COVID shots
The University of Miami is raffling prizes — including university swag, a poolside cabana at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, and a stadium suite at a football game — to get students fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
The school’s faculty and staff were required to be fully vaccinated by the time classes started on Aug. 23. Now UM is hoping weekly and monthly raffles will persuade students to get a shot in the arm.
Weekly raffles began Friday, Aug. 27, and will run through Oct. 29. Monthly prizes will be awarded in September, October and November. The grand prizes — one student will win $5,000 cash and two students will win $1,000 to eat on campus — will be awarded on Nov. 5.
The private South Florida university says any fully vaccinated degree-seeking undergraduate, graduate, law or medical student enrolled in fall 2021 classes will have a chance to win a prize.
Students vaccinated through UHealth will automatically be entered in the raffles. All other students will have to upload their CDC vaccination card through an online portal to enter. To be eligible for the grand prizes, students will have to submit their vaccine proof by 11:59 p.m. Nov. 4.
UM isn’t the only South Florida university trying to get people to get the shot. Florida International University also just announced that it will give $150 to students, faculty and staff who get fully vaccinated.
For UM’s prizes, the winners will be selected at random and will be notified by email.
What are some of the prizes fully vaccinated UM students can win?
Weekly prizes include a semester of eight massages from UM’s Herbert Wellness Center, a $50 Lyft gift card, and two tickets for one 2021 football season game in a suite with Provost Jeffrey Duerk. UM swag and food (no alcohol) is also included. One student will also win a signed helmet or football from UM football coach Manny Diaz.
Monthly prizes include an airline voucher worth $350 and a Cabana Suite rental at the Biltmore Hotel pool in Coral Gables, with Uber and food (no alcohol) included. UM says this is worth $700. The hotel describes the private poolside cabanas as being “elegantly furnished” and “hidden away amidst palms, hibiscus, and bougainvillea,” with a personal server. Anyone who wins the Cabana Suite rental can have seven guests with them.
Some of the other monthly prizes play on South Florida’s love for the U:
▪ Suite for one game in the 2022 Miami Hurricanes football season for one student and three friends with a pre-game field experience (no food or alcohol)
▪ Suite for one game in the 2022 baseball season for one student and four friends with a post-game free throw competition (no food or alcohol)
▪ Suite for one game in the 2021-2022 basketball season for one student and three friends with game experience (no food or alcohol)
To see the full list of prizes, visit https://coronavirus.miami.edu/covid-19-vaccine/voluntary-incentive-program/index.html
This story was originally published August 28, 2021 at 6:37 AM.
