Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 in Hong Kong could mean winning a Tesla or even a ton of gold, as some city moguls and their companies seek to incentivize vaccines and help stimulate a slow rate of inoculation.
The local office of Australian industrial property company Goodman Group will hold a lottery with more than one million Hong Kong dollars in prizes for residents who have completed their vaccination before August 31st. The giveaways will include a Tesla Model 3, costing more than HK $ 500,000, according to a statement from Goodman.
Li Ka-shing’s CK Group, together with its charitable foundation, announced that it would give away HK $ 20 million (US $ 2.6 million) in shopping vouchers through a lottery to people who had received both doses of vaccines.
New World Development, led by billionaire Adrian Cheng, also said it would offer HK $ 10 million in subsidies for lower-income people who have been vaccinated.
Two other major Hong Kong firms this month announced incentive programs worth more than $ 20 million in total. Hong Kong’s largest developer Sun Hung Kai Properties is offering prizes like iPhones, while tycoon Lee Shau Kee’s Henderson Land Development is offering gold bars.
“The value of various lotteries or rewards programs, as we have learned from news reports, exceeds HK $ 120 million,” the city’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, told a weekly briefing.
Incentives from local businesses appear to be driving a spike in uptake of Pfizer / BioNTech vaccines The total number of stockpiles to get vaccinated, which includes the first and second doses, increased in late May when companies began participating in the bell.
Only about 15.1% of Hong Kong’s population of 7.5 million has completed their vaccination process, according to Bloomberg’s COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker, far behind other financial centers such as London and Singapore.
The Sino Group’s philanthropic arm, Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation, and Chinese Estates Holdings Ltd. announced last month that they would offer a new US $ 1.4 million apartment in the Kwun Tong area as a reward for vaccinated residents.
