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Economists have a plan to buy herd immunity through a “vaccine stimulus.” But it could backfire.

When you were a kid, did your pediatrician give you a lollipop when your parents dragged you in to get your shots? This common approach is based on the idea that we sometimes need to be incentivized to do the things that are good for us but may make us nervous.

The same idea is now driving some economists and political figures — including two former 2020 Democratic presidential candidates — to argue that the government should pay everyone $1,000 or more to take the Covid-19 vaccine. That’s much better than a lollipop!

Although the US is still a few months away from the widespread availability of vaccines like Pfizer’s and Moderna’s, experts are already thinking about the challenges the country will face