Nash County will give families $100 when teens get COVID vaccine

The Nash County Board of Commissioners finalized a plan to become the first county in the state to give students incentives to receive both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, months after initially introducing the proposal.

Pushback from community members over the plan to pay students directly inspired the Nash County Board of Education to make changes to the original outline.

“Our goal is to do anything we could do to help the school board keep the schools open, is what brought the idea,” Nash County Board of Commissioners Chairman Robbie Davis said.

After approving the money, the board of commissioners sent the plan to the Nash County Board of Education to sign off on.

But after WRAL News first reported on the plan, parents in the district raised concerns about paying students to get vaccinated.

Puckett’s son is a senior in Nash County Public Schools.

She told WRAL News that even though he would be eligible to get one of the incentives, it wouldn’t sit right with her.

“I do not think anybody should be getting any form of payment for taking the vaccine,” Puckett said. “If you take the vaccine, that is your choice, but it should not be based on gaining anything out of it.”

The school board eventually approved the plan with some changes.

The board sent commissioners back a proposal that made clear that the money would have to be picked up by a student’s parent or guardian after their second shot at a clinic run by the district, given in partnership with Nash UNC.

On Monday, county commissioners voted to finalize the plan, after emphasizing that students still need their parents’ consent before they could even get their first shot with the school district.

Davis told WRAL News he was fine with the changes, and that he believed the plan should still encourage students to get the vaccine.

“I guess it was an attempt to let the parents know that we weren’t trying to bribe anyone,” Davis said. “We were only, as the board of commissioners, had money available to us that we could do this.”

Across the state, fewer than half (45%) of eligible teens have been vaccinated.

WRAL News asked the board chair if they would consider expanding the plan to children ages 5-11 now that they can get vaccinated as well.

Davis said the county hadn’t discussed that option but he was less eager to pursue it, as those children may be too young to make their own decisions about the vaccine.