Governments Offer Creative Awards for People to Get Vaccine

Governments and businesses in Asia and North America are offering prizes or gifts to people who get vaccinated against COVID-19. The awards include money, animals, apartments, beer and more.

Asia

From Thailand to Indonesia to Hong Kong, Asian governments are offering different vaccination prizes.

In Thailand’s Mae Chaem area in northern Chiang Mai, most residents raise cows. So local officials have launched a cow raffle this month. A raffle is a game that involves people getting numbered tickets in exchange for a chance to win a prize.

Sixty-five-year-old Inkham Thongkham won a one-year-old female cow worth $320 after he received his coronavirus vaccine.

Thongkham described the prize as “the best gift ever.”

Officials said the campaign, now in its second week, had led more than 50 percent of people in the area to sign up to get vaccines.

Many across Asia have been unsure…