LETTER: A vax lottery will motivate the undecided

In the battle against the fallout from Covid-19 one of the biggest concerns is to get foreign travel going again, as this will restore thousands of jobs and provide economic stimulation. I believe this will only occur when the percentage of vaccinated people in the country is high enough, but at present the vaccine uptake is too slow to provide relief anytime soon.

There are three main groups when it comes to vaccinations: those who are very pro-vax, those who are very antivax and those who are uncommitted. My guess is that the last group is by far the largest. They may be a little concerned over being vaccinated but are not antivax, and since many are not at high risk of Covid-19 they are prepared to take their chances.

I suggest a way to change this would be a vaccination lottery. This would target the uncommitted group as it would give them an incentive to get vaccinated. If, for a limited time, every month one large prize were given away to a person who gets vaccinated, that would drive masses of people to get the jab and drive down the infection rate.

Your chances of winning the vax lottery would be dramatically better than the Lotto, and it would not cost you a thing to enter. By employing the above, for a relatively small amount of money in the bigger scheme of things, the government would be able to achieve its goal rapidly without having to consider highly contentious compulsory vaccination.

Johan Booysen 
Via email

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