Will lottery prizes convince people to take the COVID-19 vaccine? It appears not, according to BUSM researchers.<\/p>\n
Previous BUSM research found that Ohio\u2019s lottery system to incentivize vaccination was not associated with increased vaccinations, now a new study from the same researchers, found the same results despite expanding their data to include 15 additional states.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs in our prior study of Ohio\u2019s lottery incentive, we unfortunately did not find an increase in COVID-19 vaccinations related to lottery incentive programs in other states,\u201d said corresponding author Anica Law, MD, MS, assistant professor of medicine.<\/p>\n
Since it was unclear if other states (besides Ohio) might have\u00a0different\u00a0responses to lottery\u00a0vaccine\u00a0incentives, the researchers assessed changes in COVID-19 vaccination rates in 15 other states with subsequent lottery programs. Data from both the U.S. Center for Disease Control as well as individual state vaccine data\u00a0was reviewed to evaluate trends in vaccination rates among adults in states with and without lottery incentive programs. No association between state-based vaccine lottery incentive programs\u00a0and increased rates of COVID-19 vaccination was found.<\/p>\n
According to the researchers, these results suggest that state-based lotteries are of limited value in increasing vaccine uptake. \u201cFurther studies and resources should be devoted to other strategies to increase vaccination rates, including those that more directly target underlying reasons for vaccine hesitancy,\u201d said Law, a physician at Boston Medical Center.<\/p>\n