Will competitions encourage Australians to get the Covid vaccine

Lotteries, competitions and freebies to encourage Australians to get vaccinated are all ‘on the table’ as the man in charge of speeding up the rollout reveals his plan.

Lotteries, competitions and other freebies to encourage Australians to get vaccinated are all “on the table” as the man in charge of speeding up the rollout reveals he will also make accessing the jab more “convenient”.

Lt General John “JJ” Frewen told The Daily Telegraph he was working with businesses about how they might “contribute to incentive schemes” to induce Australians “less immediately motivated” to get the vaccine.

“There’s been good examples overseas, there’s been lotteries … even just practical inducements like offering people Ubers, all of that stuff is on the table right now,” he said.

General Lieutenant General John Frewen is overseeing the vaccine rollout. Picture: Kym Smith

Already Virgin Australia has announced it will launch a Covid-19 vaccination competition later this year, while in the US and Europe people have rolled up their sleeves for enticements like free beer, doughnuts, burgers and even a $1 million lottery.

Lt Gen Frewen said a “large portion” of the Australian population intended to get vaccinated, but he would be watching closely for when demand drops off and more was required to get hesitant people “over the line”.

Lt Gen Frewen also revealed even if Australia experienced “moderate setbacks” through unforeseen supply chain disruptions, there would still be plenty to give everyone the jab by the end of the year.

“I’m less concerned about (supply) right now,” he said.

“I would like to help us build … more convenience into the ways people can get vaccinated.”

In the three weeks since Prime Minister Scott Morrison brought him in to oversee vaccine resources, communications and stakeholder engagement, Lt Gen Frewen has been working with states, territories and businesses to “increase delivery points” for vaccination.

Next week he will hold a roundtable with major business leaders to discuss helping them adapt their existing workplace flu vaccination programs into Covid-19 ones.

He has also been meeting with pharmacy representatives, looking to bring them on-board for the initial two-dose vaccine regimen and “beyond”.

“I’ve got one eye on life after the initial rollout — 2022 and beyond — when we go into more of a business as usual, maybe ‘booster mode’,” he said.

“I think pharmacies will have a really central role and all of that as well.”

Lt Gen Frewen said Australia had an abundance of AstraZeneca available, more than the amount required by the remaining over 60s, and he had been working with DFAT to deploy more to the Pacific, including Timor Leste, Fiji and PNG, where there was huge demand.

He also revealed 2,616 young Australians under 40 had received the AZ vaccine in the two days since Mr Morrison announced they could access it.

“That (shows) there’s demand for this … and 2,600 Australians have been allowed to access the vaccine now rather than wait potentially months.”

Lt Gen Frewen has also been working to finalise the communications campaign to encourage people to come forward for vaccination, which he said he expected would be ready “in the next fortnight”.