食べてよし使ってよし、ワクチン接種で牛が当たる！　比

【マニラＡＦＰ＝時事】フィリピン農村部の町長が、ためらう住民に新型コロナウイルスワクチンの接種を促そうと、「抽選で牛が当たる」キャンペーンを考え付いた。（写真は資料写真）
　北部パンパンガ州サンルイス町のジェーソン・サグム町長はＡＦＰに対し、７月以降に新型コロナワクチンを接種を受ければ約３万ペソ（約７万円）相当の牛が、毎月１人に当たる抽選に参加できると語った。
　牛が当たるキャンペーンは、１年間にわたって行われる。町長は、これだけの期間があれば、人口約６万のサンルイスのほとんどの成人が接種を終えられると見積もっている。
　「目標達成のためには、戦略を考えなければならない。フィリピン人は賭け好きだ」と町長は述べ、景品となる牛そのもの、あるいはその購入費用の提供者を探していると続けた。
　町長によると、ワクチンの接種を受けた町民は３％にとどまっているが、主にワクチンの供給不足が理由だという。世論調査によると、同町の高齢者の約半数が、副反応に関する報道を受けてワクチン接種に不安を感じている。
　町側は接種を促すために現金や食品の詰め合わせ、宝石を景品とすることも検討していた。しかし、稲作や、カモやティラピアの養殖に従事する住民が多いこの町では、牛を景品とするのがふさわしいと判断した。町長は、「牛は私たちにぴったりだ」と述べた。
　抽選会の様子は、ソーシャルメディアで生中継される。景品の牛は、自分の農場で使役しても、食肉処理して近隣住民と分かち合ってもいいという。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/05/28-13:39）

The mayor of a rural town in the Philippines has come up with a bovine solution for Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy in his farming community -- a cow raffle.
Starting in July, anyone who gets a shot in San Luis in the northern province of Pampanga will go into a monthly draw for a cow worth about 30,000 pesos ($624), Mayor Jayson Sagum told AFP.
The raffle will be held for a year, which Sagum hopes will be long enough to get most adults in the town of 60,000 people vaccinated.
For us to attain our goal, we have to think of a strategy. And we know Filipinos like a game of chance, said Sagum, who hopes to find donors willing to provide or pay for the beasts.
Only three percent of San Luis residents have received a jab, mainly due to the lack of supply, he said, and surveys show about half of town's elderly are worried about getting the vaccine due to reports of adverse side-effects.
Officials had considered using giveaways of cash, food packs or even jewellery to motivate people to get the jab.
In the end, a bovine prize was seen as more appropriate in a community where most people are involved in rice, duck and tilapia fish farming.
Cattle are the perfect fit for us, he said, adding the raffles will be livestreamed on the town's social media pages.
They want something with excitement.
Winners will be allowed to keep the cattle to use on their farms or slaughter them and share the meat with the community, he said.
Low confidence in vaccines is a major problem across the Philippines after the botched rollout of the dengue vaccine Dengvaxia in 2016 led to unfounded claims that children had died from the shot.
A recent survey showed about 60 percent of Filipinos were unwilling to be inoculated against Covid-19.
The Philippines has the second highest coronavirus caseload in Southeast Asia, with more than 1.2 million infections.
It began a vaccination drive in March, but the pace has been glacial due to delayed deliveries and fears over vaccine safety.