Lengvarsky Supports Vaccination Lottery, Finds Any Motivation Good

Dolny Kubin, July 1 (TASR) – Health Minister Vladimir Lengvarsky (an OLaNO nominee) told a news conference in Dolny Kubin (Zilina region) on Thursday that he supports the so-called vaccination lottery, as he views any motivation as good.

“It doesn’t matter whether people are motivated by the possibility to travel, or free entry to various facilities. Someone might be motivated by a sum they get. Any way is good. Yes, I do support the lottery,” stated the health minister.

Prime Minister Eduard Heger (OLaNO) stressed it’s one of the steps through which the Government wants to protect the population against the third wave of the pandemic. He said that Slovakia is one of the first countries of the EU to take measures to minimise impacts of the third wave.

Reacting on criticism by some opposition MPs concerning the lottery, Heger said he is open to better solutions, but he hasn’t heard them up to now. “It’s not difficult to criticise something, the difficult thing is to solve it – this will show whether one knows what he is talking about, or he is just grumbling. The discussion today is as open as it has ever been in Slovakia. We would like to listen to further solutions that are based on data, well-tested and good,” stated Heger.

The state wants to financially compensate people for getting vaccinated against COVID-19. According to Finance Minister Igor Matovic (OLaNO), it should happen via the vaccination lottery and a mediation bonus. Matovic’s idea is to organise one big lottery per week.