COLUMBUS – Amid growing worldwide concern over a new variant of the novel coronavirus behind the COVID-19 pandemic, the first winners have been announced in the Ohio Vax-2-School scholarship lottery, meant to incentivize young people to get vaccinated.
UPDATE 11/30/21 4:23 a.m.: Story edited to reflect drawings took place Monday and updates new case data.
Six students from central Ohio were among the first 30 winners of the smaller $10,000 scholarships announced Monday. Thirty more winners will be unveiled each afternoon through Friday, when five $100,000 scholarship winners will also be announced.
Ohioans aged 5 to 25 who have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine are eligible to win $2 million in prizes, as long as they have registered by the deadline. The deadline for Friday’s grand prize drawing is Wednesday.
The 155 scholarships, offered as incentives to encourage younger people to get vaccinated against the virus, are awarded in the form of Ohio 529 College Advantage plans and can be used at any Ohio college, university, technical or trade school, or career program.
The state reported 5,731 new cases (new figure) of COVID-19 Monday, higher than the three-week average.
Omicron variant prompts travel ban
The U.S. plans to ban travel from South Africa and seven other southern African countries starting today due to concerns over the new omicron COVID variant.
The World Health Organization says it could still take some time to get a full picture of the threat posed by the new variant as scientists worldwide scramble to assess its multiple mutations.
Stock markets swooned, some public gatherings got canceled, and countries across the globe suspended flights after South African scientists identified the new version.
Much is still not known, however, including how contagious the omicron variant is and how well vaccines work against it.
It is unclear whether the new variant is more dangerous than earlier versions, though the World Health Organization called it “highly transmissible” and designated it as a “variant of concern,” naming it “omicron” after a letter in the Greek alphabet.