4 From Westchester Win In Last Round Of NY Vaccine Scholarships

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — Four students from Westchester County won the last round of New York's coronavirus vaccine lottery.

As of Wednesday, the statewide vaccination rate was 72 percent among those 18 and older, but only 52.2 percent of New Yorkers age 16-25 had received at least one dose of vaccine, and only 33.9 percent of 12-15 year-olds had received a shot.

In May, New York launched a program to encourage young people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 — a lottery giving students the chance to win 50 full, four-year scholarships to state and city schools.

The "Get Your Shot, Make Your Future" initiative offered 50 full-tuition four-year scholarships, including room and board, to any public college or university in New York State for 12-to-17 year olds vaccinated with the two-part Pfizer shot. The weekly raffles took place every Wednesday through July 7.

The fifth-round winners are:

• Yueqi Diao, Broome County
• Cristopher Tejada, Queens
• Sawyer Pineda, Westchester County
• James Robinson IV, Cayuga County
• Ben Lesher, Westchester County
• Amaya Thalappillil, Nassau County
• Bryce Chua, Queens
• Paige Geary, Monroe County
• Talia Campbell, Westchester County
• Kailey Annesi, Monroe County

The coronavirus 7-day positivity rate was 0.4 percent.

"We have made remarkable progress and we continue to be on a good trajectory - and we should all be proud of that," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in an update on the pandemic. "We still have one big job before us, and that is to continue making sure the vaccine is available to every New Yorker and getting more shots into people's arms. If you still need to get vaccinated, I urge you to do so quickly."