Casino operator Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited has announced that nearly 2,400 people became fully vaccinated during its recently organized “Get the Jab” campaign in Macau, the world’s biggest as well as richest gambling hub.

According to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange-listed casino operator, the “Get the Jab” campaign, which ran from 18th to 20th of June in Macau, was a great success. The successful vaccination drive was handled by the clinic at the operator’s Studio City property. The clinic was open not only to Melco employees and their family members, but also the local community.

Melco’s executive vice president & chief of staff, Akiko Takahashi, said that colleague immunity was established as an important company objective to ensure a safe environment for team members, patrons, and the community as a whole. He stressed that they were very happy and thrilled to see team members’ positive response to the vaccination drive.

Speaking on the topic, the senior executive added, “We will continue to host more health seminars to promote the benefits of vaccination and to answer colleagues’ queries so that informed choices best suited to each individual’s needs can be made while supporting the government’s efforts towards achieving herd immunity.”

The vaccination drive is being seen as a great success as people in Macau have not been eager to jump in line to get vaccinated. As per the most recent data, merely 13.9 per cent of all local residents have received the vaccine. The percentage shows that the casino hub is still far from herd immunity. Health experts believe at least 70 per cent of the population must be fully vaccinated to halt deadly virus like COVID-19 from spreading.

In May, the operator had announced that it set aside MOP 16 million (roughly US$2M) for the vaccination drive. To encourage employees to get the jab to gain immunity against the potentially deadly COVID-19 pandemic, the operator compensated fully vaccinated employees with MOP 1,000 ($125). In addition, each fully vaccinated employee was also eligible for lottery prize of MOP 1 million ($125,000).

Melco is not the only casino operator that compensated its employees for getting fully vaccinated. In Las Vegas, The Cosmopolitan offered each employee $50 for becoming vaccinated. In Mississippi, Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort employees pocketed $300 for receiving the vaccine.