Lottery-Based Incentives Do Not Increase COVID-19 Vaccination Rates

Would you be more willing to get vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus if you could enter a raffle for cash and prizes? The answer was surprisingly no, according to researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), who found that Ohio’s lottery-based incentive system designed to increase vaccination coverage against COVID-19 was not associated with an increase in the number of vaccines. number of COVD-19 vaccinations.

Previous media reports had suggested that the Ohio lottery was increasing COVID-19 vaccination rates, leading other states to use COVID-19-boosting vaccine lotteries in an effort to slow vaccination coverage. “However, previous evaluations of the Ohio vaccine incentive lottery did not account for other changes in COVID-19 vaccination rates in the United States, such as those that may have been due to the expansion of vaccination to ages 12-15. explains the corresponding author. Allan J. Walkey, MD, MSc, professor of medicine at BUSM.

Using data from the U.S. Centers of Disease Control to evaluate trends in vaccination rates in adults ages 18 and older, the researchers compared vaccination rates before and after the Ohio lottery with other states in the U.S. that did not yet have vaccine incentive programs. Vaccination rates in other states served as a “control” for vaccination trends measured in Ohio, allowing the researchers to factor in factors beyond the Ohio lottery (such as expanding vaccine suitability for adolescents) across the country.

“Our results suggest that state-based lotteries are of limited value in increasing vaccine uptake. Therefore, the funds spent on vaccine lotteries can be more successfully invested in programs that target underlying reasons for vaccine hesitancy and low vaccination coverage,” said Walkey, a physician at Boston Medical Center.

The researchers believe that identifying interventions that can successfully increase vaccination coverage against COVID-19 is a critical public health issue needed to contain the pandemic. “It’s important to rigorously evaluate strategies designed to increase vaccine uptake, implement successful strategies quickly, and phase out strategies that don’t work,” said Walkey.

While Walkey and his colleagues regretted seeing state lottery incentives not associated with an increase in COVID-19 vaccinations, they hope their findings will lead to a shift in focus from ineffective and expensive lotteries, and to further study of other programs. that can increase vaccine uptake more successfully.

Reference: “Lottery-based incentive in Ohio and COVID-19 vaccination rates” by Allan J. Walkey, MD, MSc; Anica Law, MD, MS and Nicholas A. Bosch, MD, MSc, July 2, 2021, Journal of the American Medical Association.
DOI: 10.1001 / jama.2021.11048

Allan J Walkey was funded by NIH R01HL139751, NIH R01HL151607, NIH R01HL136660, and NIH OT2HL156812-01. Anica C Law was funded by NIH K23HL 153482. Nicholas A Bosch was funded by NIH 1F32GM133061-01.