Master of Public Policy
Master of Public Affairs
Master of Development Practice
Doctoral Program
Global and Executive Programs
Undergraduate Programs
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
Student Groups
Alumni
Directories
Faculty
Publications
Working Papers
Centers
News Center
Policy Initiatives
For Students
For Employers
Career Events
Employment Statistics
Client-based Projects
About GSPP
Events
Make a Gift
Find a Program
Find a Faculty Member
Find a Center
Reminders, but not Monetary Incentives, Increase COVID-19 Booster Uptake
with T. Chang, M. Jacobson, M. Kopetsky, R. Pramanik, and S. Shah, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, July 2023, 120(31).
Abstract
Despite substantially decreasing the risk of hospitalization and death from COVID-19, COVID-19 booster vaccination rates remain low around the world. A key question for public health agencies is how to increase booster vaccination rates, particularly among high-risk groups. We conducted a large preregistered randomized controlled trial (with 57,893 study subjects) in a county health system in northern California to test the impact of personal reminder messages and small financial incentives of $25 on booster vaccination rates. We found that reminders increased booster vaccination rates within 2 wk by 0.86 percentage points (P = 0.000) or nearly 33% off the control mean of 2.65%. Monetary incentives had no additional impact on vaccination rates. The results highlight the potential of low-cost targeted messages, but not small financial incentives, to increase booster vaccination rates.