Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne says Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) may be offered as an incentive to residents who take the COVID-19 vaccine.
Browne said he has been told that KFC seems to be a popular option. He said the government may well be prepared to explore the option of giving a bucket of KFC for the first COVID-19 jab.
Currently, residents can benefit from a $50 food voucher and will next week benefit from a $50 gas voucher with the first COVID-19 jab.
Browne says this is not strange considering that other countries are offering their own incentives such as cannabis and lottery winnings in exchange for the jab.
So far, about 32,000 of Antigua’s 96,000 residents have been vaccinated. Browne, who is also finance minister, says if 70,000 residents are not vaccinated in the coming months, there will be serious consequences for the country.
“I want you to understand the consequences of us not achieving herd immunity. I want you to understand that if the vaccination process continues to move at a slow pace and within the next several weeks, we do not achieve herd immunity that we will be exposing this country to perhaps a third and more deadly wave of COVID”.
He warned that this new wave would result in possible lockdowns, more deaths and more hospitalizations.
“The government is struggling to meet its obligations and the more the situation protracts, not only you will have significant hospitalizations and deaths, but there will come a time when the government will not be able to meet certain obligations including the payments of salaries and wages,” he said.
He said failure to vaccinate the nation would result in a possible collapse of the tourism sector and further devastating the local economy.
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