A $ 2 million lottery to speed up vaccination in Quebec
A $ 2 million lottery to speed up vaccination in Quebec
Each week, from August 1 to August 27, a prize of $ 150,000 will be awarded to adults who have received a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and who have previously registered on the vaccine proof portal.
A $ 1 million jackpot will be distributed on September 3 among those who received their two doses.
Young people aged 12 to 17 will not be left out, even if gambling is normally prohibited.
In August, a vaccine competition will distribute two $ 10,000 scholarships each week for those who receive their first dose. A draw for 16 scholarships of $ 20,000 each will be held on September 3 for young people who have received their two doses.
The detailed rules will be published on July 25, the date of the start of registration. Loto-Québec will also ensure the integrity of the competition in collaboration with the MSSS, assured the Minister of Finance, Eric Girard, at a press conference.
If you are still not vaccinated, go on the weekend. […] There have been incredible efforts in terms of accessibility. It’s easy to get vaccinated.
By July 16, 82% of Quebecers aged 12 and over had received a first dose and 50% were fully immunized.
Photo : Associated Press / Hau Dinh
How to register?
To participate in the draws for the vaccine contest called Gain to be vaccinated
, eligible people must register by visiting the Government of Quebec’s vaccine proof portal (New window) in order to signify their consent to participate in the contest.
To be valid, registration must be made no later than 11:59 p.m. the day before a draw.
For the last draw on September 3, people must have received their second dose of vaccine and have registered before August 31 at 11:59 p.m.
, specifies Quebec.
Once entered, individuals will be eligible for all draws, subject to the conditions of the contest.
For young people aged 12 to 17, it is their parents or guardian who will have to register.
Three objectives
At a press conference, the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, explained that this competition is not only to reward those who are already registered, but also those who are going to be vaccinated
.
These draws are in fact aimed at three objectives that the government has set for itself:
- To plan before August 31 the 600,000 vaccination appointments that are currently taken after the 1is September;
- To increase the number of people who receive a first dose to reach the threshold of 75% of the population who received two doses before August 31;
- To increase as much as possible [au-delà des 80 %] the two-dose vaccination rate among those 12 and over, before a further increase in cases propelled by the new variants in the fall.
Each additional percentage point of the population that will be vaccinated equals 75,000 people
, underlined Christian Dubé.
We do all this to avoid hospitalizations if the cases start to rise again during the fall.
One more tool
A raffle is a method that can bear fruit, but it is not a remedy that alone will allow Quebec to win its vaccine race, believes the anthropologist and researcher at the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ ) Ève Dubé.
I certainly think it’s an effective tool among a whole set of tools to motivate people to go for immunization.
Surveys conducted by theINSPQ tend to show that the majority of people who are still not vaccinated want to be vaccinated, but that they have simply not taken action yet, due to lack of time or motivation, for example, indicated Ms. Dubé.
It is this trend that would explain in particular the relatively low vaccination rate of 18-29 year olds, according to her. Maybe these are people who feel little risk of COVID, so the motivation to get vaccinated is very low and this is where this type of measure can play a role. [un rôle]
, believes the anthropologist.
Whatever the repercussions of the vaccine lottery, this is an initiative that will be of interest to research. COVID and vaccination will give us the opportunity to better understand and study the impact of these incentives on people’s behavior.
, remarked Ève Dubé.
