Bacon sandwiches offered as Covid vaccine incentive for jab-weary New Zealanders – World News

The bacon butties, coffee and hot chocolate offered to the Taranaki locals who turned up for their Covid-19 jab proved hugely popular as an incentive

A region in New Zealand with a lagging vaccination rate has found the secret ingredient to boosting numbers: giving its residents a free bacon buttie alongside their jab.

The Taranaki District Health Board ran an open clinic on Wednesday where the smell of frying bacon welcomed locals turning up to get vaccinated between 7am and 9am.

The Health Board provided bacon butties, coffee and hot chocolate for free to the 130 people who showed over these two hours, Stuff reports.

This proved a huge boost in popularity in comparison to last weekend, in which the health board vaccinated 342 people over 16 hours.

Sisters Anika and Mia Bailey got their vaccination and breakfast at the one-stop shop, with Anika, 19, joking that she had just come for the food.

The teen and her younger sister had actually booked an appointment a couple of weeks ago, which were still a couple of weeks ago, but when the pair heard about the open clinic they decided to get onto it sooner, Anika said.

Egg butties were available at the hub for those who did not want to eat bacon.

As of Tuesday, Taranaki had reported having vaccinated 66,482 people with their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Just 31,828 people, or 32.18 per cent, of the region’s eligible population were fully vaccinated – the lowest rate across the country.

According to the country’s Ministry of Health, around 37% of New Zealand’s eligible population was fully vaccinated against coronavirus at the time of writing.

Meanwhile, a Pasifika councillor from New Zealand’s most populous city, Auckland, is calling for vaccinations to be made available at fast food outlets such as KFC.

Aucklanders are currently flocking to fast food restaurants for takeaways after the region moved to alert ‘Level 3’ on Wednesday morning, meaning takeaways are back on the table.

Josephine Bartley pointed out that as a result, people were going to be sitting in queues, waiting for hours for their meals.

“So why wouldn’t you take that opportunity,” she questioned.

It was not clear whether this idea had been actioned.

It’s not the first time a nation has looked at offering greasy treats to incentivise locals to get their jab.

In the US, people have been offered doughnuts and popcorn while some Israelis have been offered pizza, Forbes reported.

According to Guardian reports , one Indian city was offering residents a gold nose pin or a stick blender if they get a shot, while in China, not one but two boxes of eggs awaited citizens who took up the offer of a jab.