Marriage matching services will be one of the incentives provided by the business sector to push the city’s vaccination rate, according to lawmaker Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung.

Citizens who have received the first dose of vaccines can apply for the matching services and submit relevant information, and can meet their future husband or wife after getting the second dose.

Lam from the commercial constituency, said he is now in discussion with the General Chamber of Commerce to launch lotteries with prizes ranging from cash, flight tickets, hotel stays and other anti-pandemic goods.

Earlier a property developer announced an inoculated worker can participate in a lottery to win a HK$10 million apartment.

Lam hoped that more developers will give out apartments to lottery winners, saying that such a huge prize catches the public’s attention. Yet he denied that these are “greedy” prizes when boosting Hong Kong’s vaccination status.

Lam added that the city’s economy can only recover if the targeted vaccination rate is reached and Hong Kong becomes a “safe city”, which can then attract overseas tourists.

He also said the commercial sector should provide as many post-vaccination measures as possible to benefit workers. Apart from vaccination holidays, workers should be granted a half day off to accompany families when getting the jabs.

However Lam disagreed on regulating businesses to provide holidays to inoculated staffers.

Lam encouraged government to expand the coverage of the vaccination programme to all Hong Kong residents, to ensure the vaccines purchased with the public funds won’t be wasted.

File photo.

Marriage matching services to be included as vaccination incentive