It’s pretty standard for kids to get a lollipop to ease the sting of their injections – but Russia is going one step further.
Although it is one of the few places with a surplus of the coronavirus vaccine, thanks to its Sputnik V version, the country is struggling to get its citizens to line up for the injections.
One vaccination centre in Moscow decided logic and science weren’t doing the trick. But flat-out bribery might.
They’re tempting Moscovites with ice cream, in exchange for their bare biceps.
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“It makes it a very nice bonus after getting the vaccination,” vaccination centre chief doctor Natalya Kuzenkova told Bloomberg.
Only 38 per cent of Russians say they’ll get the vaccine, Bloomberg reports.
Russia has racked up nearly 4 million cases and some (official) 76,000 deaths, putting it up there in the list of devastated countries.
While there was initial distrust for the Russian-developed Sputnik V vaccine, as its rollout was pushed along before testing was complete, some medical experts are now pitting it among the top options to ward off the virus.
The Lancet Medical Journal recently published findings that showed the Sputnik offered protection on par with US and European developed vaccines.
