Poland announces million-zloty lottery to boost Covid vaccine registration

The Polish government has announced a range of financial incentives to encourage people to register for coronavirus vaccines, including a lottery with prizes of up to one million zloty (€223,000) and rewards for districts that have the highest vaccination rates.

As of Tuesday, only around half of Poland’s adult population had registered for a jab, despite everyone being eligible to do so since 9 May (and most well before that date). While the number of vaccines being administered has continued to rise, and is near the European Union average, the government fears an imminent slowdown.

Poland has now delivered a total of 18.3 million shots, with almost 13 million people (around one third of the population) receiving at least a first dose already. But there are currently 3.9 million free slots for vaccines available in May and June, according to official data presented today.

There could be a “turning point” in June, when “vaccinations will be waiting for people, and not people searching for them,” the health minister, Adam Niedzielski, told wPolityce, a news website.

In an effort to boost those numbers, the government today announced various incentives, including a lottery costing 140 million zloty (€31 million), which will be run by Totalizator Sportowy and other state-owned firms.

The contest, which will be launched at the start of July, will offer cash prizes, vouchers, as well as hybrid cars and electric scooters.

The smallest prize of 500 zloty (€112) will be guaranteed for one in every 2,000 vaccinated people. Two prizes of 50,000 zloty (€11,200) will be drawn weekly, while two 100,000-zloty (€22,300) prizes and a hybrid car will be awarded monthly. In the final round, two winners will each receive one million zloty.

Those who have already registered for the jab (including those who have received it) will also be able to participate in the draw, said Michał Dworczyk, the minister in charge of Poland’s vaccine rollout. More details are due to be unveiled over the next two weeks.

Prizes will also be available for municipalities with the highest vaccination rates. The first 500 to hit 75% will receive 100,000 zloty each. One million zloty will also be given to the municipality in each of 49 regions (based on former voivodeship borders) with the highest rate, and an additional one million zloty for the national champion.

“The only way” to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic is to “vaccinate as much of the population as possible”, declared Dworczyk today. “We absolutely will not stop…at the point where we are,” added Niedzielski.

Dworczyk cited a new poll by CBOS which found that 69% of the public – the highest share since measurement began in November – have declared willingness to get the vaccine or have already registered.

The proportion of respondents reluctant to be vaccinated has fallen to a low of 25%. The survey also showed that 71% of respondents were satisfied with the rollout of the vaccines programme and only 16% thought it had been poorly done.

The government has already been carrying out a centralised advertising campaign, under the slogan “The Final Straight”, featuring sports stars and actors encouraging Poles to vaccinate. It will offer grants of between 10,000 and 40,000 zloty (depending on population size) to municipalities to organise their own campaigns.

Starting on 1 July, it will be possible to register for a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in any spot. Under current rules, those receiving the jab are immediately signed up for a second dose in the same location, with little leeway for change thereafter.

Deliveries of the Pfizer vaccine are also expected to double after 31 May and district authorities are to provide mobile vaccine points at mass events.

The idea of making coronavirus vaccines compulsory has been floated by some officials, including the prime minister’s chief COVID-19 advisor as well as the city council of Wałbrzych, which wants to make them obligatory for residents and workers. Ministers have so far, however, ruled this out.

Asked about making vaccines compulsory, deputy prime minister Jarosław Kaczyński told Sieci this week that “you have to start with encouragement and persuasion” to work towards herd immunity. But he admitted that the government might need to “risk a great deal politically if incentives are not enough”.

Main image credit: Narodowy Bank Polski/Flickr (under CC BY-ND 2.0)

Maria Wilczek

Maria Wilczek is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She is a regular writer for The Times, The Economist and Al Jazeera English, and has also featured in Foreign Policy, Politico Europe, The Spectator and Gazeta Wyborcza.