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TV, Fridge, Utensils: Vaccine Incentives Multiple in India Ahead of Looming Third COVID Wave

© REUTERS / AMIT DAVEA healthcare worker gives a dose of COVISHIELD, a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India, to a woman inside a classroom of a school, which has been converted into a temporary vaccination centre, in Ahmedabad, India, May 1, 2021
A healthcare worker gives a dose of COVISHIELD, a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India, to a woman inside a classroom of a school, which has been converted into a temporary vaccination centre, in Ahmedabad, India, May 1, 2021 - Sputnik International, 1920, 24.06.2021
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India, which is still reeling from its second COVID wave, is already worrying about a possible third wave, with local governments desperately trying to convince people to take the jab.

In a bid to motivate reluctant Indians to get vaccinated, incentive-based inoculation drives are being organised by local communities in different parts of the country.

In Punjab's Bhatinda city, a hospital has organised a lottery for people getting the jab – the prizes include a 43-inch smart LED TV and a fridge, Indian media reported on Thursday. 

Similar incentives are also happening in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. 

An Indian policeman, right, alongside Hindu women perform rituals by the Sarayu River in Ayodhya, about, 550 kilometers (350 miles) east of New Delhi, India, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2013 - Sputnik International, 1920, 24.05.2021
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Many people across India are still hesitant to get the COVID jab. Last month in rural areas of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, villagers attacked medics who arrived to vaccinate people. It's believed the widespread reluctance is due to misinformation and conspiracy theories, including that getting vaxxed can cause sudden death. 

In a small village near Tamil Nadu’s Ulundurpet district, 30-year-old R Thambidurai has been running an incentive-based vaccination drive since the beginning of June. He's been handing out items like lunch boxes, kitchen utensils, and tumblers in a bid to encourage people to get the jab. 

“My trick worked and 80 people from the village took the dose, which is over thrice the number of persons who took the vaccine on the first two days. Actually, more people would have taken the jab if vaccine stock was available. The medical team had brought less vials considering the previous days’ turnout,” Thambidurai told the Indian Express.

Healthcare workers and relatives carry the body of a person, who died from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), for his burial at a graveyard in New Delhi, India, April 28, 2021. - Sputnik International, 1920, 25.05.2021
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In Assam, the government has made it possible for people to give the vaccination as a gift for anniversaries and birthdays, for example. 

“If we take responsibility to vaccinate one or two persons at our own expense it will be great for our society," Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in May.

The Indian government is trying to inoculate as many people as possible as per Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s instruction.

Earlier in April, the goldsmith community of Gujarat state’s Surat city started offering gold nose-pins and hand blenders to people who were getting vaccination.

 

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