We all agree that a lifesaving vaccine should not need to be incentivized in the first place, but we understand that nothing motivates people better than cold, hard cash.

However, after interviewing students on campus, we’ve come to learn that these incentives still aren’t good enough for some. And the fact of the
matter is, we just don’t get it. Maybe, as members of a small and underpaid publication, we don’t feel privileged enough to turn our noses up at a $200 incentive.

Perhaps, as struggling student journalists, we just don’t suffer from that particular brand of affluence. We find it ridiculous that a metaphorical carrot
has to be dangled in people’s faces when 20 years of vaccine research should act as all the encouragement one needs.

We find it even more ridiculous when we hear the carrot still isn’t big enough. Unvaccinated people are 29 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and at least 93% of hospitalizations in Texas consist of unvaccinated patients, depending on the region.

Sources also say that the Delta variant has led to an extreme rise in youth hospitalizations. Yet, even with all this in mind, the college has
to offer cash in hand, a selfish incentive for those who don’t want to protect the others around them. And it still isn’t good enough?

Not only is Dallas College encouraging students and staff to get vaccinated at any location, but they’re also offering rotating vaccination events at each campus to make getting the vaccine more convenient for those who make the decision to do so.

The college has offered students and staff a choice and they’re making efforts so people who want to pursue that option can easily do so. This is
a good thing. We feel these incentives paired alongside the controversial mask mandate issued shortly before the semester started, are extremely important when it comes to returning to a state of pre-COVID normality.

We admire Dallas College in the leadership role they’ve taken concerning COVID-19 safety and offering COVID testing sites throughout the
pandemic. We all want things to go back to the way they were. We miss seeing your faces, but we’re also thankful to be back on campus and we’d like to keep it that way.

Hospitals around the country are overloaded. Doctors and nurses are overworked, and these recent surges could have been prevented.

When will the data alone finally be enough? How many more people have to die? How much money will it take before some of you actually
care?

This pandemic isn’t behind us yet. But with some commonsense practices and a simple shot, maybe we can see normality again, sooner rather
than later.