Editor's Note: On Aug. 23, 2021, UNM Announced an extension of the Vax the Pack incentive program until Sept. 30. Click here to read the announcement. 

Silent Lights, Freshman Convocation, Welcome Back Days, Commencement– the list of opportunities to have fun, make friends and enjoy UNM’s amazing campus is endless! After a difficult and distanced year, The University of New Mexico is eager to welcome Lobos back to a dynamic and healthy in-person campus experience this Fall.

It’s up to every Lobo to make sure that happens – and the University is offering rewards to incentivize a 100 percent Vax the Pack goal.

“At UNM, we often say that each of us defines all of us; in this case, each of us also protects all of us,” wrote UNM President Garnett S. Stokes in a message to the UNM community. “Getting vaccinated is the best thing you can do to ensure our campus and our community remain safe and remain open—and that we can all have an incredible Fall 2021 semester.”

Here’s how it works:

  • Students
    UNM will put $100 in your bursar’s account when you upload proof of COVID-19 vaccination. You must be registered for Fall 2021 to receive the money. Click here to upload proof of vaccination.
  • Main and Branch Campus Employees
    UNM will enter you into a drawing for one of fifty $1,000 prizes* when you upload proof of full COVID-19 vaccination.

If you have previously reported your status as vaccinated, but have not uploaded documentation, click here to do so and be entered in the drawing.

Why get Vaccinated? 

Well, who doesn’t love free money?! Even better is knowing that you are safe and that you won't transmit COVID-19 to elders and to people in your community who are vulnerable. Valid for UNM students enrolled for Fall 2021.

The money will be distributed after proof of full vaccination is provided. If you received your vaccination in New Mexico, you may access your immunization record through the New Mexico Department of Health. This incentive ends on Aug. 31, 2021.

Please send all questions regarding the UNM vaccination incentive program to ucam@unm.edu.

Vaccination is free and readily available at a variety of accessible locations. Explore UNM HSC’s #10to100 website to find answers to some common questions about vaccines, and then schedule an appointment for a free vaccination at a site near you.

Additional vaccination clinics will also be available to students on campus this fall. Dates and locations will be announced once the fall semester begins. UNM has set an “aspirational goal” of 100 percent vaccination for its community and will make vaccination clinics available during move-in and Welcome Back Days in August, as well as at other special events that will take place at the UNM SUB and other campus locations.

Right now, there is no end date on this incentive program, and it could end at any time. The money is coming from federal HEERF funds. Also, if at any point COVID-19 vaccinations are made a requirement for a cohort of persons, then that cohort will no longer be eligible for the financial incentives.

During the pandemic, UNM has put into place many measures for the safety of the campus community including a COVID Dashboard to monitor campus traffic and positive COVID-19 results. For more information on UNM’s return to campus this fall visit The Pack is Back: A Safe Return to Campus.

*$1,000 prizes will be subject to income tax and the dates of the drawings will be announced soon.

Related story: UNM Center helps craft national survey on COVID-19 Vaccine hesitancy