“People on the fence” are most likely to be motivated to move “into the vaccine camp” by incentives, according to John Pitney, a Republican operative-turned-Claremont McKenna College politics professor.

“If someone is totally convinced that vaccines are dangerous, then an ice cream coupon isn’t going to change that person’s mind,” he said.

Another criticism is that some people consider vaccinations to be a civic duty and believe they should not be linked to financial incentives, explained Pitney, who wrote The Politics of Autism: Navigating the Contested Spectrum.

For Pitney, one of the most persuasive COVID-19 vaccine messengers is unlikely to help: former President Donald Trump. That is because Republicans, and specifically the 45th president’s supporters, are among the most hesitant to sign up for a shot.

Vaccine reticence dates back to the early 19th century and has only been politicized during the past couple of decades, Pitney added.

“There’s just a limit on what government can do, particularly at a time when there’s so much distrust of government and so much partisan polarization,” he said. “Back when Dwight Eisenhower was urging people to get the polio vaccine, people didn’t see it as a Republican vaccine. People just didn’t want to get polio.”

Glen Nowak, director of the University of Georgia’s Center for Health and Risk Communication and a former Centers of Disease Control and Prevention spokesman, named minority communities and women as other COVID-19 vaccine hesitant groups. He said one aspect of the solution was making the shots as accessible as possible.

The cost of incentives is one downside of Biden’s proposal, but that is probably more politically palatable than mandates, Nowak told the Washington Examiner. Another is the precedent policymakers set — especially given the likelihood of necessary booster COVID-19 vaccines to keep people inoculated

“If they’re too great, people are doing the behavior to get the incentive, not because they believe in the value of the health recommendation,” he said. “Then, people may expect incentives in the future for the same behavior.”

The Bipartisan Policy Center’s chief medical adviser, Anand Parekh, pointed to the entire field of behavioral economics as evidence that Biden’s proposal could work. He recommended public health officials and businesses collect data on incentive uptake to identify which offerings were the most effective.

But Parekh, too, warned vaccinations should not become associated with financial incentives. Instead, he suggested positive reinforcement because successful immunization campaigns are based on trust and respect.

Biden announced his administration’s updated COVID-19 vaccination targets this week as it transitions into the next phase of its inoculation campaign. Biden is striving to administer at least one dose of the shots to 70% of the country’s adults by July 4 so that 160 million people older than 16 will have received two jabs within the next two months.

Biden’s new goal means the administration has to administer 100 million doses during the next 60 days, a slower pace than the more than 220 million shots it gave during the first 100 days of Biden’s presidency.

“We’re working with major businesses, like grocery stores, to provide special deals like discounts to shoppers who come to their stores to get vaccinated,” Biden said. “Bring them in to get vaccinated, but when they’re in, they will get discounts to purchase goods in that store.”

He continued: “Further, we’re working with major sports leagues to launch special promotions for their fans — things like ticket giveaways, in-stadium vaccination programs, discounts on merchandise, and other creative ways to make it easier and more fun to get vaccinated.”

Last month, the CDC, the country’s premier federal health agency, released new guidance regarding vaccinated people and mask-wearing as well.

“For those who haven’t gotten their vaccination yet, especially if you’re younger or thinking you don’t need it, this is another great reason to go get vaccinated now — now,” Biden of the guidelines.

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Public health experts are projecting between 70% and 85% of the population need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 for herd immunity to prevent the spread of the respiratory illness. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease specialist and Biden’s chief medical adviser, has described the benchmark as “elusive” since scientists are not certain of the required threshold.