Quasi-experimental evaluation of a financial incentive for first-dose COVID-19 vaccination among adults aged ≥60 years in South Africa
Introduction COVID-19 vaccination coverage in South Africa (RSA) remains low despite increased access to vaccines. On 1 November 2021, RSA introduced the Vooma Voucher programme which provided a small guaranteed financial incentive, a Vooma Voucher redeemable at grocery stores, for COVID-19 vaccinat...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2022-12-01
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| Series: | BMJ Global Health |
| Online Access: | https://gh.bmj.com/content/7/12/e009625.full |
| _version_ | 1797790025222455296 |
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| author | Brendan Maughan-Brown Candy Day Harsha Thirumurthy Lawrence Long Alison M Buttenheim Sophie J S Pascoe Candice Maylene Chetty-Makkan Elizabeth F Bair Simamkele Bokolo Korstiaan Wapenaar Jesse Werner Jacqui Miot |
| author_facet | Brendan Maughan-Brown Candy Day Harsha Thirumurthy Lawrence Long Alison M Buttenheim Sophie J S Pascoe Candice Maylene Chetty-Makkan Elizabeth F Bair Simamkele Bokolo Korstiaan Wapenaar Jesse Werner Jacqui Miot |
| author_sort | Brendan Maughan-Brown |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction COVID-19 vaccination coverage in South Africa (RSA) remains low despite increased access to vaccines. On 1 November 2021, RSA introduced the Vooma Voucher programme which provided a small guaranteed financial incentive, a Vooma Voucher redeemable at grocery stores, for COVID-19 vaccination among older adults, a population most vulnerable to serious illness, hospitalisation and death. However, the association of financial incentives with vaccination coverage remains unclear.Methods We evaluated the association of the conditional economic incentive programme with first-dose vaccination rates among adults (aged ≥60 years) through a quasi-experimental cohort study. The Vooma Voucher programme was a nationwide vaccination incentive programme implemented for adults aged ≥60 years from 1 November 2021 to 28 February 2022. We ran ITS models to evaluate the Vooma Voucher programme at national and provincial levels. We used data between 1 October 2021 and 27 November 2021 in models estimated at the daily level. Individuals who received their first vaccine dose received a text message to access a ZAR100 ($~7) voucher that was redeemable at grocery stores.Results The Vooma Voucher programme was associated with a 7.15%–12.01% increase in daily first-dose vaccinations in November 2021 compared with late October 2021. Overall, the incentive accounted for 6476–10 874 additional first vaccine doses from 1 November to 27 November 2021, or 8.31%–13.95% of all doses administered to those aged ≥60 years during that period. This result is robust to the inclusion of controls for the number of active vaccine delivery sites and for the nationwide Vooma vaccination weekend initiative (12 November to 14 November), both of which also increased vaccinations through expanded access to vaccines and demand creation activities.Conclusions Financial incentives for COVID-19 vaccination led to a modest increase in first-dose vaccinations among older adults in RSA. Financial incentives and expanded access to vaccines may result in higher vaccination coverage.Trial registration number (SANCTR) DOH-27-012022-9116. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T01:58:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f82195b6ff1b458cb98e3cf34134f251 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2059-7908 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T01:58:53Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Global Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-f82195b6ff1b458cb98e3cf34134f2512023-07-02T08:30:06ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Global Health2059-79082022-12-0171210.1136/bmjgh-2022-009625Quasi-experimental evaluation of a financial incentive for first-dose COVID-19 vaccination among adults aged ≥60 years in South AfricaBrendan Maughan-Brown0Candy Day1Harsha Thirumurthy2Lawrence Long3Alison M Buttenheim4Sophie J S Pascoe5Candice Maylene Chetty-Makkan6Elizabeth F Bair7Simamkele Bokolo8Korstiaan Wapenaar9Jesse Werner10Jacqui Miot11Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South AfricaDG Murray Trust, Cape Town, South AfricaDepartment of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USAResearch, Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South AfricaFamily and Community Health, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USAResearch, Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South AfricaResearch, Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South AfricaDepartment of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USAResearch, Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South AfricaGenesis Analytics, Johannesburg, South AfricaGenesis Analytics, Johannesburg, South AfricaResearch, Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South AfricaIntroduction COVID-19 vaccination coverage in South Africa (RSA) remains low despite increased access to vaccines. On 1 November 2021, RSA introduced the Vooma Voucher programme which provided a small guaranteed financial incentive, a Vooma Voucher redeemable at grocery stores, for COVID-19 vaccination among older adults, a population most vulnerable to serious illness, hospitalisation and death. However, the association of financial incentives with vaccination coverage remains unclear.Methods We evaluated the association of the conditional economic incentive programme with first-dose vaccination rates among adults (aged ≥60 years) through a quasi-experimental cohort study. The Vooma Voucher programme was a nationwide vaccination incentive programme implemented for adults aged ≥60 years from 1 November 2021 to 28 February 2022. We ran ITS models to evaluate the Vooma Voucher programme at national and provincial levels. We used data between 1 October 2021 and 27 November 2021 in models estimated at the daily level. Individuals who received their first vaccine dose received a text message to access a ZAR100 ($~7) voucher that was redeemable at grocery stores.Results The Vooma Voucher programme was associated with a 7.15%–12.01% increase in daily first-dose vaccinations in November 2021 compared with late October 2021. Overall, the incentive accounted for 6476–10 874 additional first vaccine doses from 1 November to 27 November 2021, or 8.31%–13.95% of all doses administered to those aged ≥60 years during that period. This result is robust to the inclusion of controls for the number of active vaccine delivery sites and for the nationwide Vooma vaccination weekend initiative (12 November to 14 November), both of which also increased vaccinations through expanded access to vaccines and demand creation activities.Conclusions Financial incentives for COVID-19 vaccination led to a modest increase in first-dose vaccinations among older adults in RSA. Financial incentives and expanded access to vaccines may result in higher vaccination coverage.Trial registration number (SANCTR) DOH-27-012022-9116.https://gh.bmj.com/content/7/12/e009625.full |
| spellingShingle | Brendan Maughan-Brown Candy Day Harsha Thirumurthy Lawrence Long Alison M Buttenheim Sophie J S Pascoe Candice Maylene Chetty-Makkan Elizabeth F Bair Simamkele Bokolo Korstiaan Wapenaar Jesse Werner Jacqui Miot Quasi-experimental evaluation of a financial incentive for first-dose COVID-19 vaccination among adults aged ≥60 years in South Africa BMJ Global Health |
| title | Quasi-experimental evaluation of a financial incentive for first-dose COVID-19 vaccination among adults aged ≥60 years in South Africa |
| title_full | Quasi-experimental evaluation of a financial incentive for first-dose COVID-19 vaccination among adults aged ≥60 years in South Africa |
| title_fullStr | Quasi-experimental evaluation of a financial incentive for first-dose COVID-19 vaccination among adults aged ≥60 years in South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Quasi-experimental evaluation of a financial incentive for first-dose COVID-19 vaccination among adults aged ≥60 years in South Africa |
| title_short | Quasi-experimental evaluation of a financial incentive for first-dose COVID-19 vaccination among adults aged ≥60 years in South Africa |
| title_sort | quasi experimental evaluation of a financial incentive for first dose covid 19 vaccination among adults aged ≥60 years in south africa |
| url | https://gh.bmj.com/content/7/12/e009625.full |
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