Pedestrians wearing protective masks walk past the Grand Central residential development by Sino Land in Hong Kong, on May 31, 2020. (PHOTO/BLOOMBERG)
A pair of Hong Kong developers said they’ll throw in a second million-dollar apartment as a lottery prize if the number of vaccinated people against COVID-19 in the city hits 5 million by the end of September.
READ MORE: Grand prize for the vaccinated in Hong Kong: A HK$10.8m flat
Sino Group’s philanthropic arm and Chinese Estates Holdings Ltd will give away a HK$12 million (US$1.5 million) apartment measuring 468 square feet (43 square meters) in their Grand Central project should vaccination numbers hit the target number, the pair said in a statement Friday. This is on top of the smaller HK$10.8 million home they offered in May in the same project, located in the Kwun Tong area, as the grand prize in a lucky draw for vaccinated residents.
The developers said their latest philanthropic endeavor was inspired by the “heroic efforts” of the city’s Olympians. The Tokyo Olympics is shaping up to be Hong Kong’s best performance in the tournament ever with three medals so far
Though vaccinations started slowly in Hong Kong, a pickup in recent weeks has led to about 3.1 million people being vaccinated with at least one shot as of Thursday, helped by incentives such as prizes. But the vaccination rate in the city of 7.5 million people still lags far behind the neighboring financial hub of Singapore, according to Bloomberg’s COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker.
As of Thursday, more than 3.16 million people in Hong Kong have taken at least the first vaccine dose, representing 46.5 percent of the population aged 12 and above. Over 2.36 million of them have been fully vaccinated.
The developers said their latest philanthropic endeavor was inspired by the “heroic efforts” of the city’s Olympians. The Tokyo Olympics is shaping up to be Hong Kong’s best performance in the tournament ever with three medals so far.
ALSO READ: Hong Kong records highest daily vaccination rate of almost 70,000
Permanent Hong Kong residents aged 18 and above will be eligible for the latest lucky draw.
About 1.83 million people who have registered for the HK$10.8 million flat at the same residential building will be automatically included in the new draw, the developers said.
Hong Kong, which has long been the world’s most expensive housing market, isn’t alone in dangling prizes to entice people to get vaccinated. In Alabama, people who are vaccinated can drive on a speedway track for free. Russian industrial giants are giving away snowmobiles, cash, and more for workers who get vaccinated.
With Bloomberg inputs