PETALING JAYA: Cash incentives and prizes could be just the thing to convince Malaysians to be vaccinated against Covid-19 as the country inches towards herd immunity, a study has found.

       Preliminary results of a study titled "Norms, Trusts and Increasing Vaccine Registration in Malaysia" by the Asean Research Centre at Asia School of Business published on Thursday (Sept 2) suggest that providing the chance to win cash prizes through vaccination sign-ups or a lucky draw is an effective way of increasing registration rates.

       The study also showed respondents believe that punishments for not signing up, such as having to take self-paid Covid-19 PCR tests every two weeks, would expedite take-up rates as well.

       "These interventions could potentially help achieve herd immunity sooner rather than later.

       "The preliminary report for the findings was released on Aug 24 and the final paper for the study will be released at a later date, once it has undergone rigorous peer review at an academic journal," the centre said in a statement on Thursday.

       The study was led by Dr Melati Nungsari, Dr Sam Flanders and several other researchers.

       It involved an online survey between June 21 and July 5, and the results from 1,307 adults residing across Malaysia were analysed.

       The centre said 71.9% of respondents expressed the need to be "very careful in trusting others, in general" and 26.7% of respondents expressed that "most people can be trusted".

       The study also found that trust levels towards different institutions varied significantly.

       "For example, many participants trusted their family members completely, while a majority of them only 'somewhat trusted' or 'completely trusted' them.

       "This indicates that policy-makers should understand trusted figures within different populations to understand how to get more individuals signed up for the vaccine," the centre said.

       Melati said the researchers conducted two behavioural survey experiments to study respondents' reactions to a state-imposed carrot-and-stick approach.

       "The first experiment suggested that 80% of respondents who had yet to register for the vaccine would do so when there is a cash incentive," she said.

       Since the government announced the ease of restrictions for those who are completely vaccinated, registration rates have increased by about 10%, reinforcing the notion that the "carrot" method worked.

       "A total of 95.9% of respondents who had already registered to get their vaccinations also expressed the need to continue following social distancing measures even after being vaccinated," she added.

       However, she said it is important to note that the study had not ascertained whether or not cash incentives would work on individuals who are extremely opposed to vaccination.

       "We have also not focused on how to increase vaccine access for vulnerable groups such as undocumented persons," she added.

       Melati hoped that this study could help the centre work closely with policy-makers to help design and implement interventions to increase vaccination rates in the country.

       According to the Special Committee on Covid-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV), as of Wednesday (Sept 1), a total of 65.1% of the adult population or 15,241,655 people have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

       JKJAV also said 85.1% or 19,932,137 individuals have received the first dose, for a total of 35,150,474 doses of vaccine being administered under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme up to Wednesday.