COVID-19 vaccinations: The power is in our hands

You might be wondering why governments around the world are using incentives like giving away tickets to sporting events and restricting restaurants to vaccinated people. It’s quite simple. These are behaviour-change techniques to encourage vaccination.?

The only way we will ever reach herd immunity is through broad vaccine acceptance. This is the degree to which individuals accept, question, or refuse vaccination. Herd immunity, meanwhile, means that when enough people are vaccinated, the virus has a hard time circulating because most people have immunity.

Research tells us that vaccine acceptance can be slowed by four main factors – complacency about immunisation, the inconvenience of getting a vaccine, a lack of confidence in vaccines, or the perception that the risks outweigh the benefits.

To address these factors, the World Health Organization (WHO) identifies strategies to increase vaccine uptake, namely by creating the right environment (which means making vaccination quick and convenient), harnessing social influence by using a trusted spokesperson to educate people and correct myths (health experts, trusted community members and others), and increasing motivation by using a number of behaviour-change techniques, including targeted and relevant communication about the safety and benefits of vaccination.

These are invaluable insights because the challenge of reaching herd immunity has moved from enabling access to vaccines to encouraging vaccine acceptance – and this is where behavioural economics plays a role.

Efforts to encourage vaccination

The “why” is obvious – Discovery’s actuarial data predicts that over 30 000 lives could be saved if most of our population is vaccinated within the next few months. But, “How” to increase vaccine acceptance is the issue.

We know that behavioural economics is key in changing health behaviours. Combining psychology and economics, behavioural economics studies how individuals behave and how thinking and emotions affect their decision-making.

We’ve long used behavioural economics in the Vitality programme, and it has successfully helped our members achieve better health than the general population by incentivising them to take up healthy habits. Our data shows that highly engaged Vitality members (those who have achieved Gold or Diamond Vitality status) have almost 60% lower risk of death, 14% lower healthcare costs, over 20% lower motor vehicle accident risk, and are 99% less likely to be in financial arrears than non-Vitality members.

In relation to COVID-19, we can all use these behavioural insights to help promote vaccine uptake and the life-changing benefits that go with it. This means encouraging those around us to get vaccinated.

?Let’s begin with what drives vaccine uptake

Vaccine acceptance rates vary between countries, and some of them have implemented innovative strategies to encourage vaccine uptake:

·??????After initially struggling with low vaccine acceptance rates, C?te d’Ivoire implemented a nationwide awareness-raising campaign, deploying mobile clinics and enlisting the support of influencers and religious and community leaders. This increased vaccination numbers ten-fold.

·??????Chile has been praised globally for its successful vaccination campaign, which centred on meeting people where they were. About 1 400 vaccination sites were set up, including at universities and stadiums. Chile’s Ministry of Health published a calendar of who is eligible for a vaccine on what day, no appointment necessary. Then, citizens proudly posted #YoMeVacuno (“I get vaccinated”) cards on social media to encourage others.

·??????In South Africa, Discovery has set up several vaccination sites, including at 1 Discovery Place, to support the COVID-19 vaccination programme in the country. So far, close to a million vaccines have been administered toward the national effort.

Applying behavioural economics to encourage vaccination acceptance

?Below are five behaviourally informed strategies to encourage vaccination acceptance.

1.????Make use of social proof

It’s evident that our thinking about how to behave can be shaped by our perception that others in our social networks think the same way.

The UK’s National Health Services messaging “Join the millions already vaccinated” makes good use of insights gained during elections when “I voted” stickers and countless social media testimonials encouraged people to go to the polls. ?

2.????Show how your vaccination can help others

JAMA Network’s article suggests that people who may not do something for themselves will often take that same action to benefit other people. By highlighting this pro-social benefit, you have a good chance of connecting with these people.

3.????Nudges

Nudging is a well-known behavioural economics technique that influences behaviour using small suggestions and positive reinforcements. It can also be applied to increase vaccine uptake, as was shown in a recent study, which used SMS reminders to nudge patients to get the flu vaccine at an upcoming doctor’s appointment. Vaccination rates were boosted by up to 11%.

?4.?????Using loss aversion by limiting access

We all have a natural fear of missing out, and the desire to “return to normal” is a powerful motivator. Limiting access to workplaces, restaurants, gyms, events, and so on, will encourage vaccination. Discovery has employed the mandatory vaccination trend in line with research proving there is no stronger intervention strategy.

5.????Incentives and rewards

Incentives are powerful, especially when it comes to changing one-time behaviours like getting vaccinated. Discovery’s Vitality programme is testament to this. We use scientifically proven interventions from behavioural economics to encourage people to adopt healthy behaviours, which has led to healthier behaviour and positive engagement in our programme. This is one of the reasons we incentivise COVID-19 vaccinations by awarding members who are 18 years and older with 2500 Vitality points for getting their jab.

Vitality has been incentivising vaccination for a long time, and these incentives work. We know that Vitality members are 44% more likely to go for flu vaccinations than non-Vitality members. That’s due to the fact that Vitality members earn 1?000 Vitality points for getting a flu jab.

Be sure to check your Vitality Points Tracker by 15 November 2021 to confirm your points allocation. If you are vaccinated after this date, your points will reflect within two to three working days of your ‘fully vaccinated’ status. So, if you haven’t already done so, book your COVID-19 vaccination today.

Let’s do our part

Although some things are inevitable, we never truly know what the future brings. Still, there is a sense of upliftment in knowing that the power to suppress COVID-19 lies in our hands. With the above strategies firmly in place, we can all play our part in stopping the spread, and when the time is right, enabling a gradual return to normal life.