KEY POINTS

  • An Austrian brothel is offering a 30-minute voucher with the "lady of your choice" with every vaccine administered on-site
  • The jabs will be available between 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. every Monday until the end of November
  • The brothel aims to increase its clientele as well as help boost Austria's overall vaccination rate

A brothel in the Austrian capital of Vienna is incentivizing people to get their COVID-19 vaccines by offering free service to every person who receives their jab on site.

The FunPalast: Sex Star Sauna Club will give vouchers for a 30-minute session with the "lady of your choice" with every vaccination administered at the brothel, The Daily Beast reported.

The jabs will be offered between 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. every Monday until the end of November, according to the outlet.

Fun Palast’s initiative aims to boost the brothel's clientele, which saw a 50% decrease since the start of the pandemic, as well as help contribute to Austria's overall vaccination rate.

"[W]e thought it’s actually such a great action to make such a statement, especially in our industry. And now we have a great vaccination site and we are very popular," club director Christoph Leilacher told Reuters TV.

Only around 64% of Austrians are fully vaccinated — one of the lowest rates in Western Europe, according to a Reuters report.

Fun Palast manager Peter Laskaris told Reuters that a vaccination clinic was set up at the brothel after he noticed men included in the establishment's target group either refused vaccination or did not know they could be vaccinated.

"I would have gotten vaccinated anyway, but the 2G rule has certainly accelerated things a little. And since an acquaintance of mine organized this and I thought, 'Well, let's go for it,'" said a Fun Palast visitor, who was identified only as Gearhart.

"I think this is perfectly OK because we can achieve a better immunization rate this way, and that's necessary to end the pandemic at some point," he added.

Boys as young as 14 can get vaccinated at the clinic, though they would have to be accompanied by an adult, while women are also being encouraged to head to the Fun Palast for a COVID-19 vaccine shot. Business has soared following the promotion, the New York Post reported.

The Austrian government announced Friday that unvaccinated people would be banned from entering establishments like restaurants, cafes, hairdressers and hotels under its new 2G rule, which is named after the German words for immunized and recovered.

The measure, which is likely to stay in force over Christmas and New Year, was followed by the country reporting an all-time high of 9,943 new COVID-19 infections Saturday — surpassing the previous worst day, Nov. 13, 2020, which saw 9,586 cases.

As of Tuesday, Austria has reported more than 900,000 COVID-19 infections and 11,554 deaths, according to data provided by Johns Hopkins University.

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Representation. Funpalast's initiative aims to increase the brothel's clientele as well as boost Austria's overall vaccination rate. Pixabay