OFFICIALS TRY TO ENTICE VAX-HESITANT WITH GIFT CARDS

Young people in a community that had Nunavut's biggest outbreak of COVID-19 will each get a $100 gift card if they get a jab this weekend. Anyone aged 12 to 17 in Arviat can get a dose of the Pfizer-biontech vaccine at their local health centre as eligibility for teenagers continues to roll out in Nunavut through June and July. Local and provincial governments across the country are offering incentives to get vaccinated — including free hotdogs in Quebec and draws to win travel and vacation packages in Alberta. In Iqaluit, where an outbreak of COVID-19 continues, vaccination clinics are offering $25 dollar vouchers and $500 draw prizes. The gift cards being offered to youth in Arviat can be spent at any store in the small community. There were 339 cases of COVID-19 in Arviat, where an outbreak shut down the community for over six months and resulted in the death of one person. Nunavut has administered a total of 33,194 doses; 39.17 per cent (15,169) of the population has been fully vaccinated.