Free pizza for the vaccinated

Residents of Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth, can claim a free pizza by one of the leading businesses in the community, as long as they can prove that they have taken at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

David Folb, managing director of Lashings Boutique Hotel and Villas, the entity that recently launched the offer, told THE STAR that the free pizza offer is not an incentive for persons to take the vaccine

"I 100 per cent respect people's decision to take the vaccine or not. So there is no way I'm trying to offer this as a bribe," Folb said. "What I'm trying to do is to say thank you for helping to keep our community safe."

The Government has embarked on an aggressive programme to get Jamaicans vaccinated against COVID-19. The Government aims to administer some 700,000 doses of the vaccine by the end of September in pursuit of the target of vaccinating 65 per cent of the population by March 2022. Approximately 400,000 persons have been vaccinated to date.

Folb said that the community of Treasure Beach records relatively low cases of coronavirus and for that he describes the community as 'lucky' for keeping numbers low. He states that at his hotel, there is a strict maintenance of protective protocols such as hand-washing stations, mask-wearing mandate and outdoor eating areas to observe social distance.

He added that patrons cannot enter his establishment without being sanitized and said that his free pizza offer is just his way of giving back to the community.

"I will do anything, and I will help in any way I can, if people were to take the vaccine. I'm not trying to persuade them to take the vaccine. I come from a country where they are predicting that taking the vaccine has already saved 60,000 lives, so what I'm trying to say is that there is so much misinformation, I'm not surprised some people are teetering.

"All I'm trying to do is encourage people to make the right decision," he said.

Folb, a United Kingdom native, revealed that his family is fully vaccinated as well as his staff, and describes it as a selfless decision. Since the announcement of the free pizza offer three days ago, Lashings Hotel has given away a dozen pizzas to vaccinated individuals. The free pizza promotion will be valid until the end of the year.