Covid-19 vaccination perceptions among socially vulnerable Medicare and Medicaid members: Experience from a national health plan outreach program

The Covid-19 pandemic has had devastating effects on our health and economic well-being. But, despite robust access to vaccines in the United States, hesitancy to be vaccinated remains an obstacle to widespread inoculation. Anthem has deployed its resources to engage its members to encourage vaccination and to better understand their concerns. Anthem has engaged with more than 3.5 million of its 42 million members in various ways, is learning from these interactions, and refining its approach based on the data gathered. Anthem finds that members of the most vulnerable populations intend to be vaccinated as much as those in less vulnerable populations; despite this intent, their vaccination rate is lower. Among those members who do not intend to be vaccinated, confidence in vaccine safety is the primary concern leading to hesitancy. The authors describe next steps and a few recommended policy actions based on their experience. (author abstract)