The Ministry of Health in Latvia has suspended plans to hold a vaccine lottery to incentivise the public to get a jab, according to a report from the country’s Public Service Broadcaster, LSM.
Juris Pūce, chair of the DevelopmentFor! Saeima, the social-liberal Latvian party faction, told a press conference that he didn’t expect the vaccine lottery to go ahead after the governing party, the JKP, rejected proposals.
He told LSM: “Given that there are differences of opinions between the parties forming the government and there is no agreement on the further direction of the draft law, the Ministry of Health is currently postponing this issue.”
Meanwhile, Justice Minister Jānis Bordāns of the New Conservative Party (JKP) said that although the JKP considers that ‘to promote economic development, economic activity and population prosperity’ in terms of COVID-19 is of extreme importance and vaccinations are the only way out, incentivising the public by having a vaccine lottery is not something that they can support.
He added: “Let us support any other effective form of encouragement for vaccination.”
This comes following reports that Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is touting up lottery operators, Tabcorp, to set up a vaccination lottery to incentivise Australians to get jabbed against coronavirus.
