Filenews 12 July 2021 - by Adamos Adamou
Following the "whip" on pandemic control measures implemented from Friday through the mandatory SafePass for all areas now, the "carrot" that will lead more young people to vaccination centres is now being sought.
To this end, a wide-ranging meeting was held at 10 a.m. at the Presidential wide-ranging meeting convened by the Commissioner of Citizens, Panagiotis Sedon, with various private sector bodies in order to coordinate efforts, as the Government had decided, to develop incentives to encourage young people aged 18-20 to be vaccinated.
The meeting, as Mr. Sedon told "F", were invited to attend among other things representatives of all universities, representatives of the employers' organizations OEV and KEVE, organizations such as CYTA and EAC, representative of the Youth Organization, representative of the Advisory Scientific Committee on Koronoi and Professor Konstantinos Fellas, advisor of the Ministry of Health on sociology and psychology issues in the pandemic.
According to Mr. Sedon, the aim is to coordinate the various efforts of the State and the interest that has been made by individuals in offering incentives to young people to get vaccinated.
Obviously, he said, there will be an exchange of views and proposals for a single framework that serves the common objective.
It is recalled that the Minister of Health has already announced, even expressing his thanks, that private companies and bodies governed by public law within the framework of their corporate social responsibility have decided to provide incentives to young people to promote vaccination.
It is recalled that in order to reach young ages for vaccination, different countries are already applying incentives. Among them is Greece, which recently announced a "€150 freedom pass" to young people between the age of 18-25 who have been vaccinated. The card will be redeemable for making purchases, receiving services from companies active in the tourism, culture and transport sectors.
However, the need to incentivise young people to roll up their sleeves is also demonstrated by the latest figures from the Ministry of Health on vaccination coverage on the island, up to 30 June.
According to them, while the percentage of the population that has received at least the 1st dose is 64.6%, the corresponding percentage in the ages 18-19 amounts to only 28.5% and in the age group of 20-29 to 36.5%.
