Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said on Wednesday that he will propose to his government that all employees working in the state administration, including ministry employees, teachers, or policemen, who have been vaccinated against COVID-19, would receive two extra days paid leave.
Babiš said the cabinet wished to motivate people to get the vaccine, recently introducing prizes and competitions for people who get vaccinated in the new “no registration needed” inoculation centres in big cities.
The PM said the government would call on all ministers to grant two days off to all employees who showed a COVID-19 certificate. This would include all of those who have been vaccinated since January. He recommended that regions, municipalities, and companies follow suit.
However, as economist Lukáš Kovanda tweeted, this “bonus” would cost the Czech economy more than €800 million.
Interest in the vaccine is dwindling with 4.5 million of 10.5 million now being fully vaccinated and about half of the population having so far expressed interest in the jab.
As a result, the pace of Czechia’s vaccination campaign is slightly below average compared to the rest of Europe.
Health workers have administered more than ten million coronavirus vaccine doses in the Czech Republic since the start of the vaccination drive in late December 2020, according to data released by the Health Ministry.
The coronavirus epidemic continues to slow down in Czechia as laboratories revealed 195 infection cases on Wednesday, which is 37 fewer than a week ago, and the reproduction number is 0.86, which is its lowest level this month, the data released on the Health Ministry website today show.
