Cities and states that require workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 may actually boost their immunization rates, a public health expert says.
This week, New York and California became the first states to mandate that public employees get COVID-19 shots or undergo weekly testing.
Dr Barun Mathema, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, told ABC News that this strategy may be even more effective that the vaccine lotteries that several states attempted.
He says the programs will increase vaccine confidence and encourage workers to get their shots to avoid the hassle of weekly tests.
'This is saying the government, unambiguously, supports vaccination. One can try things like lotteries to entice individuals but, to me, this is a serious and thoughtful approach,' he told ABC News.
'There will [also] certainly be some people who find the constant testing inconvenient.'
New York and California are the first states to mandate that public workers get COVID-19 vaccines or undergo weekly testing as cases rise due to the Indian 'Delta' variant. Pictured: A healthcare worker takes a nasal swab sample to test for coronavirus in New York City, May 2020
An epidemiologist says the new rule may actually boost rates higher than vaccine lotteries did because it 'says the government supports vaccination' as rates decline
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio became the first leader in the country to announce that employees at public hospitals would need to get vaccinated before expanding the mandate to all city employees.
The new rule requires workers to get vaccinated by September 13, unless they have medical or religious reasons.
As of Tuesday, 70.9 percent of adults have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine and
