Donut-for-vaccination? Gordon pushes for incentives to COVID-19 jab takers
MANILA, Philippines — Senator Richard Gordon on Monday suggested that incentives—like donuts or coffee—be given to those who will have themselves inoculated against COVID-19 in order to boost the country’s vaccination drive.
“There is hesitation, that’s why I’m saying bigyan natin ng donut…Provide incentives to get vaccinated. One donut if you get a vaccination,” Gordon said during a media forum organized by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP).
The senator, who also serves as the chairman of the Philippine Red Cross, said they already talked with two famous donut and coffee brands about the incentive.
“Those two already agreed,” he added but did not disclose any further details.
More vaccinators
Gordon likewise proposed the training of high school and college graduates, who can be tapped to augment the number of vaccinators in the country.
“Medics in the Armed Forces [of the Philippines] can be trained in one week—why not high school and college graduates, with the supervision of medical personnel?” he said.
“If we vaccinate 240,000 Filipinos per day, it will take one and a half years to vaccinate 70 million people. Right now, we are only doing 60,000 people a day,” he pointed out.
“We have to make sure that we have the manpower who can administer the shots,” he added.
The senator also reiterated his call for the streamlining of vaccination process, which includes removing blood pressure taking and the online completion of the pre-screening questionnaire to avoid overcrowding in vaccination centers.
Some 35 percent of the country’s estimated 110 million population may be inoculated against COVID-19 by August, according to Malacañang.
Palace says total vaccination of Filipinos may reach 35% by August
As of May 15, over 2.9 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered under the government’s inoculation program.
Some 2.2 million individuals have received their first dose while more than 700,000 have completed both their first and second dose of the vaccine.
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