Matovič: Motivation with money worked. The interest of seniors in vaccinations has increased by almost 400 percent – HNonline.sk

After some government officials announced their intention to financially motivate older people aged 60 and over to get vaccinated against the disease COVID-19, vaccination with the first dose in this group has increased compared to the younger age group of 50-59 years.

This was announced by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Igor Matovic during Tuesday’s press conference.

He calculated this to be a 395 percent increase in interest compared to people aged 50-59, while in the latter group, on the contrary, interest declined.

Matovic perceives motivation successfully

Therefore, Matovič perceives financial motivation as a successful intention.

“From the beginning of July to the 47th week, when we announced our intention to motivate retirees to be vaccinated, five percent more people were vaccinated in absolute numbers from the 60 plus category, five percent more than from the 50s category.” Matovic approached.

Shortly after the announcement of the intention, the number of vaccinees with the 1st dose first decreased in both age groups, which the Minister attributes to the introduction of a comprehensive lockdown for all.

About a week later, however, the motivation for vaccination The first dose for seniors 60 plus returned to the previous level, but for the group of 50 – 59 continued to decline.

Here he speaks of a drastic drop in vaccination rates, up 80 percent in week 50 compared to week 47, when the government introduced lockdown.

The difference is almost 400 percent

Thus, at week 50, there was up to a 395 percent difference between these age groups in terms of vaccination with the first dose of vaccine. The Minister sees the functioning of financial motivation also when vaccinating seniors with the 3rd dose.

Source: Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic

The minister compared the data with the October survey by Focus. The survey at that time estimated interest in the 3rd dose in a maximum of 426,842 people in the age group 60 plus.

However, current data as of Sunday show that this maximum has already been exceeded by 90,086 people. The Minister also observes a similar development when vaccinated with the 1st dose; in contrast to the survey, an additional 42,370 people could actually be vaccinated.

The minister said that he would like to spend as much as possible on these expenses. He sees this as a good investment, because the more people at risk can be vaccinated, the more likely the country is to avoid restrictions in the future, which in turn will help the treasury.

He estimates the cost at around € 270 million.