State COVID lotteries did not increase vaccination rates, study finds

State COVID lotteries did not increase vaccination rates, study finds “This shows a clear need to reassess how we are encouraging individuals to receive the COVID-19 vaccine," the researchers said. Ivana Saric Axios

None of the 19 states that implemented statewide COVID-19 vaccine lotteries this summer saw an increase in vaccination rates as a result of the incentive programs, according to a study published Friday in Jama Health Forum.

Why it matters: The study is the first to examine the effectiveness of 19 state-run lotteries, and offers insight into how governments can better craft incentive-based policies, said Andrew Friedson, one of the study's authors and an associate professor of economics at the University of Colorado Denver.

What they found: Researchers examined vaccination rates in 19 states before and after their lottery announcements and concluded that the association between the two variables was "statistically indistinguishable from zero," the study noted. ...