Facing a backlog in first dose vaccination, the city government has come up with an incentives scheme to lure people to get vaccinated.
The proposal, according to Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio herself, was discussed during a meeting last week after a backlog of 438,000 for the first dose was reported.
The remaining unvaccinated residents are those who will not go to the vaccine centers, people who do not believe in vaccines, and the people who are daily wage earners whose work is more important to them.
The city will pilot the plan of “incentivizing” in two vaccination centers.
While the plan looks good on paper, it leaves the question: why not incentivize instead those who have been vaccinated? Which makes more sense.
In several countries, those who get vaccinated receive some sort of incentive or concession from government. It is a positive act of encouraging more people to get vaccinated and leaving those who are not vaccinated with nothing. Hence, more people got vaccinated in the process.
With the city government’s plan, it leaves those who have religiously followed the call for vaccination getting nothing for their readiness to respond to the welfare of everyone. Instead, it provides incentives for reluctance.
The benefit of voluntariness is protection for everyone and that is more worthy of incentive rather than those who refused.
