New Vaccine Lottery to Encourage Immunizations for All Eligible Manitobans

The Manitoba government is launching a new provincewide lottery that will award nearly $2 million in cash and scholarships this summer to encourage Manitobans to get fully vaccinated as soon as possible, Premier Brian Pallister announced today.

“Vaccination is the fastest way to overcome COVID-19 and safely restore our services and activities,” said Pallister. “Urgency is important. We need Manitobans to get vaccinated to protect each other and protect our health-care system. The sooner we get vaccinated, the sooner we can get our lives back. This lottery gives Manitobans even more reasons to roll up their sleeves – not once, but twice.”

Manitoba will hold two lottery draws over the summer. All Manitobans aged 12 and up who have received at least one dose of vaccine on or before Aug. 2 will be eligible for the first draw. All Manitobans aged 12 and up who have received two doses on or before Sept. 6 will be eligible for the second draw.

Each lottery draw will award:
• three prizes of $100,000 in the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (excluding Churchill);
• a $100,000 prize in each of the remaining regional health authorities: Prairie Mountain Health, Southern Health–Santé Sud, Interlake–Eastern Regional Health Authority and Northern Regional Health Authority (including Churchill); and
• 10 draws for $25,000 scholarships for young people aged 12 to 17 across the province, for a total of $250,000.

All people who have been immunized with either a first or second dose are automatically eligible and will be entered into the lottery for a chance to win. A process has been put in place to ensure all information used for the purposes of the draw is protected and secure. Each draw will be held once eligible immunizations administered as of the lottery deadlines have been entered in the provincial database.

Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries will be responsible for conducting the lotteries and a third-party auditor will provide additional oversight.

“Trust and accountability are an integral part of every lottery, and we will ensure that all Manitobans can have confidence in the fairness and integrity of this process,” said Manny Atwal, president and CEO, Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries. “As we have seen in other jurisdictions, lotteries can act as an incentive to encourage vaccination. We are proud of our role in the goal to get as many Manitobans immunized as quickly as possible.”

This includes setting out how Manitobans who were vaccinated outside of the province may ensure their eligibility by reporting their vaccination to a public health office. Any Manitoban who wishes not to be part of the lottery may opt out via a simple process to be outlined in the near future.

For more information about the Manitoba Vaccination Lottery, visit https://protectmb.ca/lottery.  Additional details on the lottery will also be provided at this site in the coming weeks.

(Province of MB News Release)