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MOSCOW (Reuters) The mayor of Moscow said on Sunday that the city will offer free cars in a raffle for residents who get vaccinated against COVID-19 in a bid to speed up the slowness of vaccinations amid a backdrop increase in coronavirus cases.
The Russian capital reported 7,704 new infections on Sunday, the highest number in a single day since December 24. Authorities have reported 14,723 cases nationwide, the highest one-day total since February 13.
Mayor Sergei Sobyanin on Saturday told residents not to work next week to help curb the spread of the virus, effectively declaring a long public holiday.
This is only a temporary fix, he said in a follow-up blog on Sunday. To avoid further restrictions and ensure a lasting improvement in the situation, we need to speed up vaccinations considerably.
Sobyanin publicly lamented how few residents have chosen to be vaccinated. He gave no new figures on Sunday on how many people have been vaccinated. He said on May 21 that 1.3 million out of a population of over 12 million had received a dose.
To stimulate demand, Sobyanin said anyone over 18 who receives the first of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine from June 14 to July 11 will now automatically be entered into a raffle to win a car.
He said five cars worth 1 million rubles ($ 13,900) each would be given away weekly.
Russia was the first country in the world to approve a COVID-19 vaccine for home use, before large-scale trials began. It started rolling out the Sputnik V plan in December, and it quickly opened up to everyone in Moscow.
($ 1 = 71.8030 rubles)
(Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by David Goodman and Gareth Jones)
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