Covid-19 Vaccine Take-Up in a County-Run Medicaid Managed Care Population

Estimates of willingness to get vaccinated for Covid-19 range from about 50% to 60% and are low even for some groups facing high risk of Covid-19 infection, hospitalization, and mortality. These rates are concerning given that models of herd immunity require much higher rates of vaccine take-up. In this work, we are partnering with Contra Costa Health Services (CCHS), the department of health in Contra Costa County, CA, to test ways to increase Covid-19 vaccine take-up in a racially and ethnically diverse Medicaid managed care population. We hypothesize that small financial incentives and other low-cost behavioral nudges, such as default appointments and race-concordant provider messages, can be used to increase vaccine take-up.