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Money could motivate some people to get a COVID-19 vaccine ─Survey

*Harris Poll in November indicates a quarter of Americans say $100 or less would be enough for a needle in the arm

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Against the backdrop of reported cases about hesitations cum apathy some have expressed about taking much-expected vaccine doses as immunisation against the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic when available, economists have suggested paying people to get a virus vaccine.

ConsumerConnect learnt while some have asked if there should be a survey to find out whether payments would work or otherwise. Now there is, and the results are said to be somewhat murky.

A Harris Poll conducted November 19-21, 2020, asked about 2,000 Americans how much the government should pay if it were to pay people to get a vaccine against the novel coronavirus, agency report said.

Of those, 24% mentioned sums of $100 or less, 16% mentioned higher amounts.

According to report, most though, indicated that money was not a motivator. Thirty-nine percent said they would get a COVID-19 vaccine even if the government did not pay anything.

Whereas 23% others said the opposite: They would not get a vaccine even if they were offered payment.

Economist Robert Litan, a Brookings Institution nonresident senior fellow, had proposed in August 2020, that the Federal Government pay people $1,000 to get vaccinated.

In the Harris Poll, only 7% of respondents mentioned that sum or more.

It’s hard to draw a straight line from the poll to policy. How people answer a hypothetical question is only loosely connected to how they would behave in a real-life situation—cash in the palm for a needle in the arm.

Money might be more effective than the poll indicated, or less. Adding to the uncertainty, Harris didn’t directly ask people how much they personally would need to be offered, instead asking, “If the government were to pay people to get a COVID-19 vaccine, how much do you think they should pay each person?”

The report indicated clearly, though, paying people to get jabs rubs a lot of Americans the wrong way.

Before asking people to name dollar amounts, Harris asked them if they believed the government should pay people for shots at all. Only 44% said yes, 56% said no.

John Gerzema, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Harris Poll, says this survey and previous ones tell him that many Americans are torn between fear of a vaccine and a sense of civic duty to get inoculated.

Gerzema also points to wide gender and racial gaps on vaccines. When Harris asked if the government should mandate vaccinations, 56% of men but only 40% of women said yes.

Earlier, a November 13 Harris Poll found that 69% of men but only 52% of women said they were likely to get a vaccine as soon as it becomes available.

Likewise, 62% of White Americans but only 46% of Black Americans said they were likely to get a vaccine as soon as it becomes available.

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