Letter to the Editor: Financial incentives for COVID-19 vaccination

The backfiring effects of monetary and gift incentives on Covid-19 vaccination intentions

We provide evidence that material inducements for Covid-19 vaccination may backfire. Results from a hypothetical survey experiment in China (N = 1365) show incentives of 8-125 USD reduce vaccine uptake intentions compared to simply offering vaccination for free. Ours is the first Covid-19 vaccine study to separately consider and directly compare the effects of monetary and goods-based incentives, both of which have been widely employed by countries seeking to increase uptake; we demonstrate that both types backfire equally. Results are compared against the burgeoning literature on Covid-19 vaccine incentives.

Overcoming Vaccine Hesitancy Using Community-Based Efforts

Vaccine acceptance by parents and caregivers remains a public health challenge that can potentially be addressed via community-based strategies. Such strategies might augment current vaccine hesitancy interventions occurring within medical homes. This article reviews the key challenges and advantages of evidence-based community strategies for overcoming parent/caregiver vaccine hesitancy, specifically (1) community-participatory vaccine hesitancy measurement, (2) communication approaches, (3) reinforcement techniques (eg, incentives, mandates), and (4) community-engaged partnerships (eg, vaccine champion training, vaccination in community settings). This article also discusses important considerations when vaccinating children and adolescents in non-primary care settings (school-based health centers, pharmacies, community events).

Estimation of Total Cost Required in Controlling COVID-19 Outbreaks by Financial Incentives

In this article, we present a Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) to estimate the total cost required to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic by financial incentives. One of the greatest difficulties in controlling the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic is that most infected people are not identified and can transmit the virus to other people. Therefore, there is an urgent need to rapidly identify and isolate the infected people to avoid the further spread of COVID-19. To achieve this, we can consider providing a financial incentive for the people who voluntarily take the COVID-19 test and test positive. To prevent the abuse of the financial incentive policy, several conditions should be satisfied to receive the incentive. For example, an incentive is offered only if the recipients know who infected them. Based on the data obtained from epidemiological investigations, we calculated an estimated total cost of financial incentives for the policy by generating various possible infection routes using the estimated parameters and MCS. These results would help public health policymakers implement the proposed method to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the incentive policy can support various preparations such as hospital bed preparation, vaccine development, and so forth.

Association between COVID-19 vaccination rates and the Australian 'Million Dollar Vax' competition: an observational study

OBJECTIVE

To examine the association between financial incentives from entry into a vaccine competition with the probability of vaccination for COVID-19.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study with adjustment for covariates using logistic regression.

SETTING

October and November 2021, Australia.

PARTICIPANTS

2375 respondents of the Taking the Pulse of the Nation survey.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES

The proportion of respondents who had any vaccination, a first dose only, or second dose after the competition opened.

RESULTS

Those who entered the competition were 2.27 (95% CI 1.73 to 2.99) times more likely to be vaccinated after the competition opened on 1 October than those who did not enter-an increase in the probability of having any dose of 0.16 (95 % CI 0.10 to 0.21) percentage points. This increase was mostly driven by those receiving second doses. Entrants were 2.39 (95% CI 1.80 to 3.17) times more likely to receive their second dose after the competition opened.

CONCLUSIONS

Those who entered the Million Dollar Vax competition were more likely to have a vaccination after the competition opened compared with those who did not enter the competition, with this effect dominated by those receiving second doses.