Offering A Carrot Won’t Get People Vaccinated, Maybe It’s Time To Talk About The Stick, Health Official Tells Birmingham Council
COVID-19 cases are on the rise in Jefferson County, and offering incentives to persuade people to get vaccinated does not seem to be working, a public health official warned the Birmingham City Council on Tuesday.
Dr. David Hicks, deputy health officer and COVID-19 incident commander at the Jefferson County Department of Health, said new daily coronavirus cases had increased fivefold in the past month.
“In our county, we’re averaging 75 new COVID cases per day,” he said. “If you go back a month ago, we were averaging 13 cases a day … The trajectory is troubling. Every week we’re seeing a doubling of the cases of COVID-19 being identified.”
Thirty-six percent of Jefferson County residents are fully vaccinated, Hicks said, while 45% have received at least one dose of the vaccine. According to the Alabama Department of Health, 94% of all COVID hospitalizations and 96% of all COVID deaths have been among people not fully vaccinated. About 20% of Jefferson County’s population is reluctant to get the vaccine, Hicks said.
Dr. David Hicks' LinkedIn Page
Dr. David Hicks, deputy health officer and COVID-19 incident commander at the Jefferson County Department of Health
The council has mulled incentivizing vaccines, though some officials have dismissed such programs as unnecessary. Councilors have offered concert tickets and tickets to a soccer game as incentives for people to get vaccinated. On Tuesday, Hicks told councilors that he thought incentive programs would have limited effectiveness.
“I’m not sure we can move people who have dug in their heels and said, ‘I’m not getting vaccinated no matter what you do,’” he said, suggesting that businesses may need to begin mandating vaccinations for their workers.
“I don’t have the answer for what else to do,” he said. “You have the carrot approach and the stick approach. The carrots are those incentives, and the stick approach is, does a business say you have to [be vaccinated to work there]? … That’s a national conversation now: do we have to try that stick approach?”
The Alabama Department of Public Health did recently launch an incentive program to get 13- to 29-year-olds to take vaccines and create Tik Tok videos for a chance to win $250 gift cards.
COVID cases are on the rise across the country, largely due to the virus’ Delta variant, which studies say is stronger and more contagious than the original.
In Alabama, the state with the lowest percentage of fully vaccinated residents, the daily number of new cases is nearly seven times higher than it was on July 5. Tuesday, the number of new cases jumped even more.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reposts video of pastors saying women shouldn’t vote
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth reposted the video profiling Christian Nationalist Pastor Doug Wilson, who opposes same-sex marriage.
Texas big game hunter killed while stalking African Cape buffalo
Asher Watkins had been tracking a cape buffalo for the kill when the animal instead turned its attack on the hunter.
4 people and 5 months in space, NASA’s Crew-10 mission safely returns to Earth
It took the capsule 17 hours to make the trip home, experiencing re-entry temperatures of around 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit as it punched through the atmosphere following Friday's ISS undocking.
Authorities ID suspect in CDC shooting as a 30-year-old man from suburban Atlanta
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation identified the man who opened fire at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as Patrick Joseph White. White died and a police officer was shot and killed.
NFL preseason game ends early after serious injury to Detroit Lions’ Morice Norris
The Lions safety was in stable condition after he was attended to for about 20 minutes and taken off the field in an ambulance Friday, with the preseason game against the Atlanta Falcons ending early.
Opinion: Remembering Sandra Grimes, mole hunter
Sandra Grimes died at the age of 79. Her work was crucial in catching a Soviet agent who "caused more damage to the national security of the United States than any spy in the history of the CIA."
