Quebecers are showing enthusiasm for the province’s Loto-Québec COVID-19 vaccine lottery with 644,029 people registering since Sunday, the Health Ministry said in a statement Tuesday.
Registration got off to a rocky start on Sunday, with the site experiencing technical difficulties leaving some unable to register. By 8 a.m. the next day, however, more than 360,000 people had signed up.
Officials said Monday, the Loto-Québec website is seeing 20 times its usual traffic.
Any Quebecer who has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine can participate in the lottery.
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There will be four draws worth $150,000 each, held every Friday throughout the month of August. A grand prize of $1 million will be decided on Sept. 18 for those who are fully vaccinated.
Children aged 12-17 will have their own lottery with prizes ranging from $10,000 to $20,000 in school bursaries.
When the government first announced its plans for a lottery earlier this month, it said it hoped the initiative would encourage more people to roll up their sleeves and get a shot.
The province is aiming to have 75 per cent of its eligible population fully immunized against COVID-19 by the end of August.
To date, Quebec’s Institut Nationale de Santé Publique says that 63.4 per cent of those over the age of 12 are adequately vaccinated.
— with files from Global News’ Kalina Laframboise and Alessia Maratta
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