UW Student from Colorado Wins Tuition, Fees for Reporting Vaccination

A junior from Aurora, Colo., will receive up to $4,500 in tuition and fees after winning the second grand prize in a drawing for University of Wyoming students who have reported being vaccinated for COVID-19.

Echo Primm, who is studying biology, won the prize after her name was drawn Wednesday from among students who have reported their COVID vaccinations on the Student Health Service patient portal.

“I really appreciate receiving $4,500, because I was really struggling moving to a new place and being broke, like most college students are,” Primm says. “This award will allow me to focus on my studies without having to stress about how to pay for tuition as much.”

Primm says reporting her vaccination to Student Health Service was “very easy.” She decided to be vaccinated because she wanted to travel outside of the country.

“I wanted to be extra safe and get the vaccine so I don’t get anyone sick,” she says. “I would recommend getting the vaccine to keep yourself and others safe.”

Additionally, Cord Anderson, a sophomore from Windsor, Colo., was the winner of a weekly drawing for students reporting their vaccinations. He and five of his friends will have dinner with UW President Ed Seidel and his partner, Gabrielle Allen, in the President’s Room at the Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center.

“I got vaccinated because the benefits outweighed the costs: I could avoid getting the virus, continue to study on campus and protect the people around me,” says Anderson, who is studying criminal justice. “It also was a free opportunity offered by the University of Wyoming, and I was proud to take advantage of that.”

Anderson describes the reporting process as “effortless and simple.”

“I would recommend the vaccination to other students because it prolongs our stay at the University of Wyoming. We all want the college experience, but we could all easily lose it again if we don’t take the right precautions. And, as far as I can tell, we’re all too proud to be a student here to let that happen again. So, it’s more of an issue of school spirit and pride above anything else,” he says. “It’s also a measure to keep those around us safe. No one is truly aware of what’s going on around them, so they can’t be sure if the student next to them is one cough away from an emergency. The vaccine is just one way to be respectful to the community we continue to support; honestly, it's a way for us to give back.”

While vaccinations are not required for UW students and employees -- instead, they’re strongly encouraged -- students should report their vaccinations once they have received them. This allows the university to track overall vaccination numbers. The information is not being used for any other purpose, except to enter those who have reported their vaccinations into the drawings for prizes. The university’s privacy protocols are being followed.

To upload documentation to the Student Health Service patient portal, take a photo of your vaccination document and upload the picture here: http://patientportal.uwyo.edu, using your regular UW user ID and password. This is the same portal where students report their mandatory vaccination for measles, mumps and rubella.

Additionally, students can report their vaccinations by emailing photos of their vaccination documents to Student Health at studenthealth@uwyo.edu.

On Aug. 23, a political science major from Virginia -- who opted to not be publicly identified -- won up to $4,500 in tuition and fees after winning the first grand prize in the student vaccination reporting incentive program. A number of other students have won a variety of prizes -- including $300 cash, pregame field access passes for UW football games and Apple AirPods -- since the program launched in July.

While the university’s incentive program has concluded for the fall semester, UW students who are vaccinated are eligible to enter an Albany County vaccination incentive program. Cole Munari, a Cheyenne senior studying management with minors in economics and honors, won the first $1,000 prize in the county program.

That effort, You Call the Shots, organized by a coalition of community members with the support of local businesses, offers weekly raffles and other prizes of up to $2,500 for local residents to roll up their sleeves and make Laramie a safer place to work and live. Albany County residents 12 and older can register to be part of the drawings at https://bit.ly/calltheshotslaramie.

Every Monday through Oct. 4, there will be one weekly drawing for a $1,000 cash award. Multiple grand prize packages, including a $2,500 cash prize, will be awarded this month. Entries are open to Albany County residents who have received their first vaccine shots. The full course of vaccination is required in order to redeem prizes; winners will be required to show proof of vaccination. Prize winners will be announced on social media every Friday following the weekly drawings.

Additionally, while supplies last, $25 gift cards will be given to those who receive the vaccine at the time of vaccination at these locations: Albany Community Health Clinic, the Downtown Clinic, Family Physicians of Laramie, Grand Avenue Urgent Care, Ivinson Medical Group, Pole Mountain Pharmacy, Ridley’s, Stitches Acute Care and Walmart.