In Lithuania, people over the age of 75 will receive a one-time compensation of 100 euros for receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, the parliament in Vilnius decided on Tuesday in an exceptional situation.
According to the approved assumption, the funds will be provided to those who have been vaccinated or have already been vaccinated between September and December of this year. And get a booster vaccine by April next year.
The bill caused a lot of debate in the Lithuanian parliament and was adopted by the votes of the ruling parties. The opposition did not support it, noting that it is discriminatory and even demoralizing, as it discriminates only one category of the elderly.
Moderate optimism from the Prime Minister
Prime Minister Ingrida Zimonetti previously said she, too, was not satisfied with the proposal to pay vaccination benefits, but noted that “if this saves more lives and protects more people and their loved ones”, that is the price the state must pay.
It is estimated that more than 270,000 people live in Lithuania. People over 75 years old. Tuesday’s parliamentary decision could cost the state around 27 million euros.
According to the data of the Lithuanian Ministry of Social Welfare and Labor, a third of people over the age of 75 in the country do not have immunity to the coronavirus. The proposed one-time benefit is intended to encourage vaccination of older people who belong to the higher-risk group.
According to data from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Lithuania is among the EU countries with the highest infection and death rates from COVID-19. In the past day, 1,768 new cases of coronavirus were recorded in Lithuania, and 16 people died. Cases per 100,000 The population of the last 14 days was 966.7 people nationwide.
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