Ahmedabad announces smartphone to lucky winner taking Covid vaccine second dose between Dec 1, 7

© Provided by Hindustan Times
The Union health ministry said that 81,097,973 doses of the vaccine have been administered in Gujarat as of 7am on December 1. (AFP | Representational image)

The Ahmedabad civic body, as part of its efforts to boost vaccination rate in the city against Covid-19, has announced a lucky draw contest on Wednesday. The winner will take home a smartphone worth ₹60,000.

People who will be inoculated with the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, between December 1 and 7, will also eligible to enter the contest, news agency PTI reported citing the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC). The winner of the contest would be declared later, the AMC also said.

However, this is not the first occasion in which the AMC has announced incentives for people to come forward and get vaccinated against Covid-19. Earlier too, the civic body came up with incentives such as free-of-cost edible oil and a lucky draw for beneficiaries who take the Covid-19 vaccine. The aim was to create awareness about the immunisation programme and also to achieve 100% vaccine coverage, the civic body officials had said. Further, it had also announced additional gifts worth ₹10,000 for 25 people who won the lucky draw.

Also read | Omicron variant: Now, Gujarat imposes curbs on passengers from ‘at risk’ nations

The practice is not confined just to Ahmedabad. Uttarakhand announced a ‘vaccination mela’ back in October and people being jabbed during the period were told that they were eligible for a lucky draw in which they could win prizes like electric scooty, LED TV with sound system and double-door refrigerator in addition to the consolation prizes such as smartphone, tablet, microwave, kitchen appliances, food processor, oven, induction, tracksuit and shoes.

Meanwhile, the Gujarat government extended the night curfew in the state’s eight big cities in view of the emergence of the Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant till December 10. The cities are Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Surat, Vadodara, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar, Gandhinagar and Junagadh.

On Tuesday, the state saw 40 new Covid-19 cases and no related deaths. So far, 827,475 confirmed infections have been reported along with 10,092 deaths. Active caseload was recorded at 275.

The Union health ministry said that 81,097,973 doses of the vaccine, including 45,827,741 first doses and 35,270,232 second doses, have been administered in the state as of 7am on Wednesday.

Sign on to read the HT ePaper epaper.hindustantimes.com