Raymond Reigadas, a train operator from Hell’s Kitchen, felt great about finally getting a COVID-19 vaccine last week.
“I trust the science behind it,” said Reigadas, adding that he was ready to do his part in helping the curb a pandemic that has killed at least 133 transit workers. “Every time I see my dad, I'm tired of wondering, Is this the last week I'm going to see him? Is anything going to happen to him?”
In the wake of a recent surge among employees, the MTA is encouraging its staff to seek vaccination during off-work hours and to visit the state-operated vaccination hub at the Javits Center, where Reigadas got his first dose.
The transit authority is also taking the rare step of paying people an extra two hours of wages per shot for unionized workers, an offer available to some 60,000 employees. The MTA is among the first major employers to offer workers an allowance for getting the vaccine. Spokesperson Abbey Collins says the plan aims to encourage critical, frontline workers to protect themselves as the agency already deals with a bare bones workforce. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease official and a Brooklyn native, urged workers to get vaccinated in a video message. Retailers Trader Joe’s, Dollar General, and Aldi and grocery delivery app Instacart are also offering pay.
These plans arrive as employers weigh how to keep employees safe and encourage workers who may be hesitant to get vaccinated. About 27% of New York state residents surveyed in a recent Siena poll said they didn’t plan to get the shot, and even some healthcare workers are voicing their resistance. So, will the pay-for-shot strategy be enough to boost uptake?
The answer may depend on who offers the payments: the government or businesses.
Robert Litan, an economist and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, wrote a recent endorsement of the federal government giving a $1,000 check for everyone if loads of people balk during the vaccine rollout. Mayoral candidate Andrew Yang supports paying people $1,500 to get vaccinated.
Litan emphasized the idea is a “plan B.”
“[If] we're still a long way from herd immunity, then what other tricks do we have in the bag?” Litan said.
But some researchers criticize the concept, saying the $1,000 price point wasn’t based on a scientific assessment and that it would only create new fears. Why would the government have to pay someone to take something that’s good for you?
The clapback is supported by a 2010 study where online survey takers judged clinical trials that promised payouts. The participants perceived a therapy as riskier if the listed payments were higher.
Canella Gomez, a train operator who lives in Flatbush, does not plan to get a COVID-19 vaccine until clinical trials are fully completed, which could take years. He feels the development process was rushed, and the extra pay won’t sway him.
“When a new PlayStation comes out, I'm never rushing to get it,” said Gomez. “I always wait until they work out all the bugs and the kinks first. So that's the same way I feel about the vaccine.”
Ana Santos Rutschman, assistant professor at Saint Louis University’s Center for Health Law Studies who co-authored an article in opposition to Litan’s proposal, said employers paying workers would be less harmful than if government entities were to do so. Comptroller Scott Stringer recently proposed mandating businesses provide paid time off to get the shots or to deal with any side effects afterwards as a way to more equitably distribute the vaccine.
“That actually strikes me as an idea that's actually not bad,” Rutschman said of employers offering compensation. In Houston, Texas, one hospital is paying $500 to incentivize its healthcare workers. Large hospital systems in New York City—like NYU Langone, Mount Sinai, Northwell, and Health + Hospitals—don’t yet have similar plans but are focusing on information campaigns for now, according to hospital spokespeople.
But, a blanket system implemented by states or the federal government “becomes a much more blunt tool .. [that] can be portrayed in a way that is just saying we're paying people to change their views about our health,” Rutschman said.
Bruce Y. Lee, a CUNY professor and executive director of Public Health Informatics, Computational, and Operations Research, said any approach to address hesitancy has to be specific.
“I think before you really decide how you're going to overcome vaccine hesitancy, it's important to really get to the bottom of why that hesitancy is actually occurring,” Lee said. “This can’t come across like propaganda or advertising or marketing or something like that.”
One alternative recommendation is smaller rewards such as food vouchers or gift cards. That research-based advice comes from the Community Preventive Services Task Force, an independent board of public health experts appointed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s director. In Singapore, one 2020 study found paying older adults with shopping vouchers of 20 Singaporean dollars—about $15—compared to 10 Singaporean dollars increased participation in seasonal flu vaccination from 4.5% to 7.5%.
The task force cautioned, “incentive rewards may be considered coercive with the potential to influence the process of clients' informed decision making.” Rutschman adds that there’s little to no research on incentives in the context of an urgent, deadly pandemic—an unprecedented factor in the vaccine programs underway today.
Employees expressed mixed feelings about the COVID vaccine payments. A Trader Joe’s crew member at a Manhattan location, Katie Scott, said the extra pay is more like a “thanks” from the company. She hopes other companies will follow suit.
“People who really wanted to get that vaccine were definitely gonna get the vaccine either way,” added Scott, who was able to get a time-slot for the vaccine, only to have it cancelled this week.
MTA worker Jonathan Beatrice, who got the first dose on Sunday, said he didn’t view the extra money as much of an incentive. Four hours pay for both injections amounts to around $120 to $140, before taxes, depending on the worker's position, Beatrice said. (The MTA did not provide information about how much, on average, workers receive for the shot.)
“For me, it was [that] I don't want to get COVID-19 and I don't want to spread it to other people and I want to help end the pandemic. That was my incentive,” said Beatrice, a Bay Ridge resident.
Reigadas agreed that the extra pay didn’t weigh into his decision.
“Most of the people I talk to on the 7 [train], they’re looking forward to getting it because they want this thing to end,” Reigadas added. “We've got to get past this thing now.”
This article has been updated with information from the MTA.
