All means are good to encourage vaccination. After reinstating the wearing of a compulsory mask in almost the entire department until August 15, the Hérault is adopting a new strategy to fight against the 4th wave of Covid-19. The prefecture announced Thursday that all young Hérault residents aged 18 to 25 who received a first injection of the Covid-19 vaccine between August 1 and August 15 would benefit from commercial gestures from certain companies. The key, for example, is a free seat in a Montpellier cinema, free entry to a nightclub in Cap d'Agde, or a Whopper sandwich offered for the purchase of a menu in some Burger King restaurants. The young people concerned will also have to present a negative PCR or antigen test to obtain these advantages,since the places concerned are (or will be) for the most part subject to the health pass.
# Covid_19 l #PassSanitaires l # Vacci +
Launch of the #VacciPlus operation in # Hérault for 18/25 year olds:
Your first injection takes place between August 1 and August 15 👉🏻 meeting with partners for a Gesture
Info: https://t.co/tSwIn3tQb1 pic.twitter.com/Htj3Ks8K2q
- Prefect of Hérault (@ Prefet34) July 29, 2021
This is not the first time that such vaccination incentives have been put in place in France.
Already at the end of June, the city of Nîmes had opened a raffle for 18-24 year olds residing in one of the towns of the agglomeration who had received at least one dose of vaccine.
The value of the gifts went up to 250 euros, for the operation called "vaccination party".
Subsequently, the city of Argenteuil set up a similar initiative, for 18-25 year olds this time.
This type of device is not unanimous, some seeing it as infantilization of young people.
Read also Vaccination race: how the United States, gone far ahead, are left behind
However, countries have decided to extend this initiative to a very wide scope. In the United States, Joe Biden on Thursday called on local authorities to pay $ 100 to anyone who is vaccinated, using emergency funds made available to deal with the pandemic for this. The objective is clear: to relaunch the vaccination campaign, in general in the United States, and for young people in France, who remain the least vaccinated age group. The next extension of the health pass, however, seems to have had a certain impact: following Emmanuel Macron's announcements, 33% of young people between the ages of 18 and 25 have decided to be vaccinated according to an Ipsos survey.
