Can you get paid to get a COVID vaccine? Some employers offering incentives

As the first phase of COVID-19 vaccine distribution rolls on, some health care workers and first responders are being offered bonuses, prizes and other incentives, as encouragement to get the shots, media outlets report.

Nearly a quarter of the general public is hesitant to receive either Pfizer or Moderna’s rapidly tested and produced coronavirus vaccine, despite evidence that both are safe and effective, McClatchy News previously reported.

Those misgivings extend to some at the front of the vaccine line, as well. At some hospitals in red and blue states across the country, health care workers are refusing the vaccine out of fear, McClatchy News reported.

The Los Angeles Fire Department has started offering raffle prizes to its firefighters, the L.A. Times reported.

“Only 1,000 out of 3,400 were vaccinated in the first week,” the fire chief told the news outlet.

Prizes include gift cards for Airbnb and Lyft, home security cameras, bicycles, and Google Nest entertainment systems, the Times reported.

“I strongly encourage all members to take advantage of the Department’s COVID-19 vaccination program for their own protection, as well as that of their families and the public we serve,” Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas wrote in a memo regarding the new prize program, according to Newsweek.

Houston Methodist hospital in Texas is promising $500 bonuses to employees who get the vaccine, CNN reported.

According to the hospital, 55% of its 26,000 employees have had at least one of two shots needed for the Pfizer vaccine to work.

“Eligibility criteria will include getting a COVID-19 vaccination, fulfilling our obligation as health care workers to lead the community,” Houston Methodist President and CEO Marc Boom wrote in an email to staff, CNN reported.

However, some studies show that offering incentives, whether in the form of money or prizes, may do little to convince vaccine skeptics, and could actually fuel their reluctance as the offer of payment implies there must be risk involved, the New York Times reported.

Others might also initially decline the vaccine in hopes they will be compensated for getting it later on, the New York Times reported.

This story was originally published January 6, 2021 at 2:47 PM with the headline "Can you get paid to get a COVID vaccine? Some employers offering incentives."