To be eligible for a $150,000 award or $10,000 scholarship, you must have taken at least your first dose and register online through the quebec.ca/vaccincovid section of the winning vaccination contest.

However, it was difficult to get to the site on a Sunday morning. Two CPA journalists attempted to register on several occasions between 9.15 and 9:40 a.m., but the site noted that “the system is under maintenance” while the registration period was due to expire. Opened at 8 am. Finally someone managed to register at 9.48 am and again, their first form submission received the reply “under maintenance.”

Santé Québec acknowledged these words on Twitter at the end of the morning: “The site where registration will be held for the competition is currently experiencing technical problems. Work is underway to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience!”

The Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian Duby, and Minister of Finance, Economy and Innovation, Eric Girard, announced the creation of this lottery, with great fanfare on July 16.

He also plans to draw a $1 million jackpot among fully vaccinated Quebecers by August 31, but we must move quickly within at least four weeks between the two doses. The Million Dollar Prize Draw will take place on September 3rd, along with 16 scholarships worth $20,000.

The government hopes to achieve the goal of fully vaccinating 75% of its population aged 12 and over against COVID-19, in every age group, by August 31.

As of July 22, 72.9% of Quebecers had received at least one dose of the vaccine, a percentage that rose to 83.3% among those 12 and over.

In all, 59.8% of those 12 years of age or older have been adequately vaccinated, having received the required two doses, according to data from the National Institute of Public Health in Quebec.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, at least 376,530 Quebecers have contracted COVID-19 and 11,239 people have died.