At Giant Tiger, staff who are vaccinated are given a one-time payment to offset the cost of things like child care and transportation, although the company is adamant it’s not an incentive program.
Vaccination rates in Canada are higher. In Ontario, 78 per cent of adults have received at least one vaccine dose, with Ottawa a shade higher at 79 per cent. Even so, that means that after months of vaccine availability, pop-up clinics in hot spot neighbourhoods and targeted messaging in multiple different languages, more than one in five people still have not got their first shot.
So far, Ontario says it’s not going to follow other provinces’ lead with vaccine lotteries. Manitobans are eligible for draws of a $100,000 prize in each of its seven health authority regions while students aged 12-17 could win $25,000 scholarships. Alberta is offering $3 million in similar vaccination giveaways.
“We’re doing about 22,000 a day in our clinics,” Di Monte said. “It’s not something we’re currently contemplating because, to be honest, things are moving very, very well across our system. We’re focusing on our high-risk communities and we’re getting out to our rural areas too. I think our current model is making us achieve all our goals. It’s the old adage: Don’t mess with something that’s working.
“We’re monitoring that daily to see what those trends are. Midway through July, we’ll get a better understanding. Do we have a challenge here? Do we have a problem?”
healthing_ca
healthing_ca