Days after prominent businessman and philanthropist Adrian Fox promised to pay out as much as $100,000 as an incentive for more Bahamians to get the Covid-19 vaccine, vaccinations in the country have skyrocketed by over 500 percent.
Before the Fox Foundation announced the generous initiative, 198 people had gotten a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, December 6.
However, one week later, on December 13, 1,351 people got the jab for the first time.
Similarly, on Tuesday, December 7, 195 people got the first dose of their Covid vaccine of choice.
However, one week later, on Tuesday, December 14, 1,168 people got their first jab.
The Fox Foundation took it upon itself to dig deep and invest in Bahamians’ protection against Covid-19 amid lingering vaccine hesitancy.
Fox also stressed the importance of not squandering the Covid vaccines gifted to The Bahamas by the United States.
It’s a model adopted by some cities in the United States.
In New York City, children can claim $100 if they get their first dose of Pfizer's vaccine at a city-operated vaccine site. Alternatively, they can get tickets to city attractions such as the Statue of Liberty or the Brooklyn Cyclones baseball team.
In Chicago, health officials are also offering $100 gift cards for children ages five to 11 when they get the shots at Chicago Public Health events or clinics.
Here in The Bahamas, Adriana Fox announced, “We are going to issue 50 $500 prizes a week and then at the end of the period, there is going to be a grand prize for those who are in that pool, between the 13th and the 31st, of $25,000.”
The names of selected individuals will be announced on ILTV on Saturdays.
“Every week we will do a digital drawing of those persons who took their first shot and those results will be posted on ILTV channel on Saturday. So every Saturday we will do a digital drawing. Every week, 50 persons will win $500", Fox said.
The first results are expected to be announced on ILTV on Saturday.
As of December 11, 151,183 people in The Bahamas were fully vaccinated.
Over 147,000 people have received at least one dose, excluding the one-shot Johnson and Johnson.