Incentivizing COVID-19 Vaccination in a Polarized and Partisan United States

Abstract

Abstract Context: As COVID-19 vaccines were rolled out in early 2021, governments at all levels in the United States experienced significant difficulty in consistently and efficiently administering injections in the face of vaccination resistance among a public increasingly politically polarized on vaccination preferences before the beginning of mass vaccinations. Methods: Using an original conjoint experiment fielded to a nationally representative sample before the mass proliferation of COVID-19 vaccines, the authors examined how different incentives (e.g., employer mandates, state-organized or health care provider–organized vaccination clinics, and financial incentives) affect the public's preference to get vaccinated. They also tested how financial incentive preferences correlated with self-reported vaccination intention using observational data from the June 2021 Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll. Findings: The authors found financial incentives positively influenced vaccine preferences among the mass public and all partisan groups, including Republicans who were initially “unlikely” to be vaccinated. The authors used the observational data to replicate their experimental findings, showing positive financial incentive attitudes positively correlated with self-reported vaccination disclosures. Conclusions: These results provide support for direct financial incentives, rather than other incentives, as being a valuable tool for policy makers tasked with alleviating vaccination resistance among a US mass public increasingly polarized along partisan lines.