2021 | Heike Klüver, Felix Hartmann, Macartan Humphreys, Ferdinand Geißler and Johannes Giesecke

Can incentives spur Covid-19 vaccination uptake?

Using a survey experiment with 20,500 participants in Germany, we investigated the effectiveness of three strategies to increase vaccination rates in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: granting additional freedoms, financial incentives and vaccinations at local doctors’ offices. The results show that all three strategies can significantly increase willingness to get vaccinated, particularly among undecided individuals. In this group, vaccine acceptance can rise from 40% to 53% when all three measures are combined. However, the effectiveness of the strategies varies by age group: older people respond more to access to local vaccination sites, while younger people are more likely to react to extended freedoms for vaccinated individuals.

Photo:
1 – Alexandra Koch / Pixabay / Covid-19-test
2 – siam.pukkato / Shutterstock / Female doctor with a stethoscope on shoulder holder syringe and COVID-19 vaccine; Health care and medical concept