Greece to pay young people to be vaccinated to boost uptake

The Greek authorities will give each vaccinated 18-25 year old a 150 euro pre-paid card

A woman receives a Covid-19 vaccination on Elafonissos Island, Greece, on 23 April, 2021. (AFP via Getty Images)

Young adults in Greece will be given a cash reward for receiving their first Covid-19 vaccine jab, the government has announced.

The incentive comes amid rising fears about the highly transmissible Delta coronavirus variant.

So far, 33 per cent of Greece’s population have received both doses, a much lower rate than nations like the UK, where roughly half of all people are now fully vaccinated.

In a bid to speed up its vaccine rollout, the Greek authorities will provide each vaccinated 18 to 25-year-old with a 150 euro prepaid card, which is being marketed as a ”freedom pass”.

Those who are eligible will be able to spend the money on cultural events or holiday activities from the middle of July, with ministers estimating that around 940,000 people could take advantage of the scheme by the end of the year.

“It’s a debt to the youth, a gift out of gratitude,” Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said at a ministerial meeting this week.

His country is not alone in trying to incentivise vaccine take-up, with Canada, Indonesia and Russia among those who have launched local initiatives.

Police in Cianjur, West Java, Indonesia, have been giving out chickens to encourage people to come forward for vaccines, while those who are jabbed can win a car in Moscow.

Announcing that 5 cars are up for grabs each week for a month, the Russian city’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said: “From 14 June until 11 July, 2021, citizens who get their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine will become participants in a car lottery.”

“But of course the main gain for those who get vaccinated cannot be compared to any car — it is their own health and peace of mind,” he added.

In the western Canadian province of Alberta, three people who have received a jab can each win 1 million Canadian dollars (£584,000) in the area’s vaccine lottery.

After weathering the first lockdown quite well, Greece went into a second lockdown in November.

The country has reported a total of 420,905 cases and 12,664 deaths from the disease since the pandemic first emerged.

Additional reporting by Reuters