Cebu City Councilor Alvin Dizon | CDN Digital file photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Councilor Alvin Dizon is requesting grocery stores to provide some sort of incentive for vaccinated individuals.
He said that this would be one way to encourage more people to get vaccinated against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
In a resolution passed by the City Council in this week’s regular session, Dizon said that vaccine hesitancy was a natural human reaction and could be fueled by many factors such as misinformation and conspiracy theories.
“It is important to fully address this vaccine hesitancy and for as many people as possible to get vaccinated against COVID-19 so we can protect ourselves, our family, and our community, and we can safely resume to our normal activities most especially in reopening our economy,” said Dizon.
For Dizon, another strategy to encourage “positive health related” choice is the use of reward incentives through promos and discounts through the involvement of the business sector.
Establishments in the city could be tapped for discounts, promos, freebies, and deals for people who can present their vaccination cards.
“This strategy of incentivizing health-seeking behavior by businesses can also be used as an information, education, and communication platform to educate people to learn the facts about how the vaccines help end the pandemic,” said Dizon.
The Cebu City Council appeals to our grocery stores, supermarkets, restaurants, online food businesses, gyms, and spas, hotels, pharmacies, tourists spots, and even public transportation to provide incentives to customers who can present a vaccine card.
However, this appeal of the City Council did not sit well with many netizens.
Netizens commented in the post of CDN Digital that this could feel like a discrimination or might cause people to flock vaccination site.
“No sense for promo kay gamay ra ang supply sa vaccines,” said a netizen.
(There is no sense for the promo because there is only a few supply of vaccines.)
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