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| A physician vaccinates an individual with a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in Vienna, Austria April 26, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner |
Austria’s conservative authorities mentioned Thursday it was launching a nationwide lottery to encourage holdouts to get vaccinated towards the coronavirus, hours earlier than parliament handed laws that will introduce a nationwide vaccination mandate.
About 72% of the Austrian inhabitants is absolutely vaccinated towards COVID-19, one of many lowest charges in Western Europe. “What’s up for grabs within the Vaccine Fleet?” Vouchers!”
This is what Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer mentioned at a press convention of the social democratic opposition chief Pamela Rendi Wagner, with whom the measure was being negotiated.
Nehammer mentioned he needed there to be a monetary reward for getting vaccinated, including: “We have learned from the past and we have seen that a vaccination lottery is the best possible way to set up such a system.”
Members of the general public, whether or not already vaccinated or not, can be entitled to 1 ticket for every shot they’ve had – three in complete for many who have had their booster shot.
Every tenth ticket would win a 500 euro ($568) reward voucher, Nehammer mentioned, including it could price as much as 1 billion euros. He later added on Twitter that the vouchers could possibly be utilized in “retail, tourism, hospitality, services, culture and sport”.
Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler mentioned the goal was to assist Austrian companies and keep away from on-line retailers as a lot as potential.
