Budapest’s Józsefváros District to Pay Fully Vaccinated Residents

Hungary Today 2021.09.10.

The VIII district of Budapest, Józsefváros, will pay those who have been vaccinated twice and whose family’s monthly income per consumption unit does not exceed HUF 71,250 (EUR 200).

In other words, the HUF 71,250 (EUR 200) limit means that the monthly income per consumption cannot exceed 250 percent of the minimum of the Hungarian retirement pension.

The municipality decided that those who meet the criteria will receive HUF 10,000 (EUR 28) after receiving both jabs of the vaccine. (In the case of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, this means only one dose). The total budget is HUF 20 million (EUR 56,959), reports Népszava.

Other than the income-related condition, to receive the money, another criteria is that every person of legal age in the family has had to get both doses of the vaccine as well – unless they have a document that states they cannot be vaccinated. To get the money, one has to show all the certified papers to confirm that they meet the requirements.

Magyar Hang reported the following:

Fact

The municipality said that “…it is well known that vaccination is the most effective way to control the epidemic.” Local data is limited, but on a local level people who are vaccinated – and those who aren’t – are strongly associated with poverty. While the municipality of Józsefváros has already done its utmost to mitigate the effects of the epidemic, its current priority is to get as many unvaccinated residents as possible to sign up for the vaccine during the rest of the year. The program aims to encourage this. In order to ensure that the benefit is non-discriminatory, the aid is granted regardless of whether the Covid vaccination is taken up before or after the regulation came into effect, they added.

Among the beneficiaries of the application who have received vaccinations, the municipality will distribute a total gross amount of HUF 150,000 (EUR 427,20) to five people at the beginning of 2022. However, this only applies to people who got the vaccine after the regulation entered into force.

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The idea is not entirely new as opposition party Momentum also made a suggestion to make a one-time payment of HUF 100,000 (EUR 280) to people who are willing to get vaccinated. Hungary is not the only country where something similar has been proposed. Serbia was the first in the world to offer money (EUR 25) to its residents who have been vaccinated as a way to boost the vaccination process. Several retailers in Germany have also decided to give bonuses to their vaccinated workers.

Residents can apply until January 15, 2022.

Featured image: illustration by Csaba Bús/MTI