Vaccination Promotions Won't get us to Herd Immunity

Recent efforts to boost COVID vaccinations via lotteries will likely create a few days of increased activity, followed by the resumption of the downward trend. See that attached chart of vaccination counts in Ohio. There's a management/policy/marketing lesson in this.

(Note: The recent uptick in nation-wide vaccination counts is being driven by the 12-17 age segment).

Promotions generate short-term activity. I have been asked many times to estimate the long-range financial impact of one promotion or another. There may be some, but it always was lost in the analytical noise. That's why you see some companies engaged in an endless stream of discounting. They know they've got to keep it going.

It's branding, perceived value, relationships, and product and service quality that create longer-term share-of-mind and -wallet. If a company or government hasn't made its case to the public through these methods, continuous promotions will only really work well for a least-cost provider.

Fear and community-mindedness on the part of the public can also work in the policy realm. COVID hasn't generated enough of either to get us to herd immunity. That's not a policy prescription; just an assessment.