Chickens, cows, apartments… prizes to encourage residents to get vaccinated

“Chicken, cows, paid vacations, even a million dollar apartment.” This is a set of prizes on offer in Thailand, Indonesia and Hong Kong for people who get the coronavirus vaccine.

According to “Reuters”, some Asian countries have started organizing prize draws to motivate citizens to receive the vaccine, after the emergence of new, rapidly spreading strains of the “Corona” virus, which led to a high incidence of infection in Southeast Asia in the past few weeks.
And this month, the authorities in Mae Chaim County, located in the northern province of Chiang Mai, a province most of which are herdsmen, began holding a lottery to win a cow worth ten thousand baht (320 dollars), which achieved wide turnout.

County authorities say their campaign, now in its second week, and prizes 27 cows encouraged more than 50 percent of the 1,400 residents, most of whom are elderly and at risk of contracting the virus, to register for the vaccine.

As for Hong Kong, which has so far largely succeeded in controlling the epidemic, the authorities fear that low vaccination rates will expose the city to a major outbreak.

Incentives offered in the lottery for those to receive the vaccine include vouchers, flights and a new apartment worth 10.8 million Hong Kong dollars (1.4 million US dollars).

Some companies are taking additional steps, offering paid leave for vaccinates.

On the other hand, a private gym uses punishment instead of rewards, as it requires its employees to get vaccinated before the end of June, or else they will be denied bonuses, promotions and salary increases in the future.

Even in countries hard hit by the pandemic, such as Indonesia, authorities are struggling to allay fears about vaccines.

The official toll in Indonesia is more than 1.9 million infections and 53,280 deaths due to the virus. Recent studies of serum samples indicated that the true prevalence may be thirty times greater.

Data from Indonesia’s Ministry of Health shows only five percent, or 8.8 million, of the population had received two doses of the vaccine, well short of the year-end target of 181.5 million.