WebMD: Cash Incentives May Help Nudge People to Get COVID Vaccines

From WebMD:

Researchers in this study found that the slide was cut in half at sites offering the cash cards when compared with elsewhere in the same counties and the rest of the state. Among a 401 vaccine recipients who were surveyed, 41% reported the cash card was an important reason for vaccination.

People with lower income and people at least 50 were more likely to have been brought by a driver who received a cash card. “We know that these one-on-one conversations between people who have remained unvaccinated and those that they trust and know are really important,” Wong says. David Asch, MD, MBA, executive director of the Penn Medicine Center for Health Care Innovation in Philadelphia, says that incentives for the drivers is “a novel idea and a clever one.” “Think about having a running buddy, or forming a weight loss pact or quitting smoking with a spouse. People don’t want to let others down, and we all know that people are on their best behavior when they know that others are watching,” he says. Read the full story in Web MD.