Guaranteed Cash Incentives Boosted COVID-19 Vaccinations Of Young Adults: Evidence From West Virginia

Health Aff (Millwood). 2024 May;43(5):651-658. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2023.00734.

Abstract

Guaranteed small cash incentives were widely employed by policy makers during the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, but the impact of these programs has been largely understudied. We were the first to exploit a statewide natural experiment of one such program implemented in West Virginia in 2021 that provided a $100 incentive to fully vaccinated adults ages 16-35. Using individual-level data from the Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey, we isolated the policy effect through a difference-in-discontinuities design that exploited the discontinuity in incentive eligibility at age thirty-five. We found that the $100 incentive was associated with a robust increase in the proportion of people ever vaccinated against COVID-19 and the proportion who completed or intended to complete the primary series of COVID-19 vaccines. The policy effects were also likely to be more pronounced among people with low incomes, those who were unemployed, and those with no prior COVID-19 infection. The guaranteed cash incentive program may have created more equitable access to vaccines for disadvantaged populations. Additional outreach may also be needed, especially to unvaccinated people with prior COVID-19 infections.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • COVID-19 Vaccines* / economics
  • COVID-19 Vaccines* / supply & distribution
  • COVID-19* / prevention & control
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Immunization Programs / economics
  • Male
  • Motivation*
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Vaccination / economics
  • Vaccination / statistics & numerical data
  • West Virginia
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • COVID-19 Vaccines