Does Paying People to Get Vaccinated Work?

They find that the cash increased vaccination rates by 4 percentage points, to 76 percent for those in the incentives group compared with 72 percent in the control group. The researchers note that the 72 percent baseline was similar to rates in other EU countries, so the findings suggest that a small incentive can work even in countries with high vaccination rates. One limitation they acknowledge is that they tested only the one amount, while companies and governments have discussed payments ranging from less than $1 in Philadelphia to €25 (about $30) in Serbia to $100 in New York.

The research demonstrates that while people with higher socioeconomic and educational status were most likely to get vaccinated, the monetary incentives increased inoculation rates among all participants in the incentives group, regardless of background.

The trial also studied the effect of nudges on participants in three of the test groups. For example, subjects in one group were asked to make a list of people in their lives who would benefit from the participant being vaccinated, and in another, to take a quiz detailing the benefits of COVID-19 vaccines. The researchers find that such nudges increased participants’ intention to get vaccinated but had no meaningful effect on actual vaccination rates.

The researchers acknowledge that paying people to get vaccinated could have potential downsides, such as giving the impression that vaccines are not desirable or lessening the motivation to be inoculated for the public good rather than for financial benefit. But the study does suggest that guaranteed incentives can indeed increase vaccination rates.