New Cato/​YouGov Survey On Pressuring Vaccination

To gauge whether financial incentives might encourage unvaccinated Americans to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, the Cato Institute and YouGov conducted an internet survey of 2,000 adults aged 18 and up from September 2 to September 13. The results show the vast majority of unvaccinated Americans report that financial incentives in the form of higher health insurance premiums will not persuade them to vaccinate.Here are the main results on vaccination status and attitudes toward vaccinating:67 percent of respondents report they had already gotten at least one dose of the vaccine16 percent reported they are open to vaccinating17 percent replied they would “definitely not” vaccinateOf the 16 percent of respondents who reported they are open to vaccinating (totals do not add to 100 percent due to rounding):24 percent reported they are planning to get vaccinated57 percent reported they are adopting a “wait and see” approach20 percent reported they will vaccinate only “if required”In other words, four‐​fifths of the unvaccinated—a group that accounts for 12 percent of the full sample—either already want to vaccinate or are waiting on more information. This suggests the United States could achieve an 80 percent vaccination rate via persuasion alone. The remaining fifth of the unvaccinated might choose to vaccinate if subject to a requirement, such as a financial incentive.The survey next sought to find out how the unvaccinated group would react to financial incentives in the form of health insurance premium surcharges for failing to get vaccinated. It successively asked whether a monthly increase in health insurance premiums of $50, $100, $200, $400, or $1,000 would spur unvaccinated respondents to vaccinate.The survey found:14 percent of the unvaccinated said they would would vaccinate if the alternative were a $50 monthly increase in health insurance premiumsa further 5 percent said they would vaccinate if they faced a monthly surcharge of $100a further 3 percent said they would vaccinate if they faced a monthly surcharge of $200a further 2 percent said they would vaccinate if they faced a monthly surcharge of $400a further 2 percent said they would vaccinate if they faced a monthly surcharge of $1,00074 percent said that not even a monthly surcharge of $1,000 would affect their decision to vaccinateRemarkably, 74 percent of unvaccinated Americans responded that premium surcharges as high as $12,000 per year would not affect their decision to vaccinate.Taken together, these results suggest 80 percent of unvaccinated Americans are open to persuasion but 74 percent are not open to financial pressure. These results drive home the importance of consistent, transparent, respectful, persuasive messaging to increasing vaccination rates.Full survey questions and results are available here.