Citizens In This Country Get 25 Euros If They Want To Be COVID-19 Vaccinated

Ilustrasi vaksin COVID-19. (Wikimedia Commons / Ministry of Defense of Peru)

JAKARTA - Various ways have been done by governments in various parts of the world, to convince their citizens to accept the COVID-19 vaccine. Safety concerns, long queues, side effects, and doubts about the efficacy of vaccines have made many people reluctant to be vaccinated.

In Serbia, the government has taken a breakthrough that will attract citizens to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Launching Euronews, Thursday, May 6, residents will get an award if they are willing to be vaccinated.

In fact, the announcement was made directly by President Aleksandar Vucic. The award is a decent amount of money for Serbians, which is around 3 thousand dinars or 25 euros.

It is the equivalent of 5 percent of the average monthly salary in Serbia. This applies to citizens over 16 years of age who have received one or two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. As well as those who will be vaccinated against at least one dose before May 31.

"We have considered how to reward people who have shown responsibility. And decided to provide additional financial support to those who have been vaccinated", said President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade.

He stressed that those who were not vaccinated showed selfish and irresponsible attitudes. For this reason, public sector employees who have not been vaccinated will not get time off if they are infected with COVID-19.

This government initiative, believed to be a world first, aims to revive the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, amid waning public interest and growing skepticism.

So far, about 22 percent of Serbia's seven million population have been given two injections, much higher than 9 percent of the population in the European Union. Not surprisingly, President Vucic hopes Serbia has vaccinated 55 percent of its population with one dose of vaccine by the end of May.

To support this vaccination campaign, Serbia has purchased millions of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from various manufacturers, including Russia's Sputnik V and Sinopharm China, which have not received authorization for use.