KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 ― A jail in Washington state is offering ramen noodles to those who had been inoculated.

The Olympian reported that Benton County jail put up the programme called "Soups for Shots” in early August and had to date given out 900 packets of the noodles for 90 inmates.

The prison now has 360 inmates.

To entice the prisoners, flyers featuring a larger-than-life photo of the seasoned, wavy noodles were distributed.

"To encourage and support COVID vaccination efforts, the Benton County Department of Corrections will be providing each inmate that starts their vaccination series with 10 FREE RAMEN NOODLE SOUPS!!!” the poster shared.

Chief of corrections for the Benton County Corrections Department Scott Souza said the programme had received outstanding response.

"We’re doing everything we can do to incentivise vaccination and we are getting outstanding response.”

NPR reported in 2016 that ramen noodles have become the currency of choice in American prisons to barter for items or services apart from being a food source.