More than 500,000 UK participants in one of the biggest ever surveys of the prevalence of Covid-19 have been given shopping vouchers worth more than £210m, figures reveal.
The Covid-19 Infection Survey is the largest regular survey of coronavirus infections and antibodies in the UK, helping to provide information to shape the government’s response to the pandemic.
As an incentive to take tests, participants are offered vouchers. These can be redeemed for specific retailers, including supermarkets, fashion stores, hotels and airlines. Some households have picked up vouchers worth a total of more than £1,000.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS), which jointly leads the survey with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), said participants were not obliged to accept the payouts, and that they were kept under regular review to ensure they were an effective incentive and offered value for money.
New figures reveal that 528,541 enrolment vouchers, with a face value of £50 each, were issued between the start of the survey, in April 2020, and November 2021. The total value of these vouchers is £26,427,050.Participants, who are selected at random, are regularly visited by arrangement at weekly or monthly intervals to be tested for Covid and are given £25 vouchers for each visit. Vouchers worth £184,095,175 have been handed out for the testing visits.
The vouchers can be spent at more than 100 outlets, including Argos, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, John Lewis, Deliveroo, Cineworld, All Bar One, Zizzi, Eurostar and Jet2holidays. The vouchers initially included Amazon among the retailers, but when details of the scheme first emerged, MPs questioned why the vouchers were not being targeted to ensure the cash would help boost high street stores.
The Amazon vouchers are no longer available, but the ONS said this was not connected to any criticism of the online giant potentially benefiting from the scheme.
The survey aims to find out how many people are getting Covid, how many people previously had Covid, and how many people have had a strong immune response to the vaccination.
It is one of the largest surveys in the world of individuals sampled at random for possible infection. Dr James Doidge, a senior statistician at the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre, has described it as “one of the most valuable resources on the planet” in understanding the pandemic.
One of the other major UK studies gathering data during the pandemic, the React study commissioned by DHSC and carried out by Imperial College London in partnership with Ipsos Mori and Imperial College healthcare NHS trust, does not offer vouchers. Each month more than 100,000 people across England are randomly sent a one-off nose/throat swab test to take at home.
The ONS said: “The Covid-19 Infection Survey has been vital in understanding the spread of coronavirus in the community and informing the government’s pandemic response.
“It is routine practice in surveys to offer modest compensation and the payment of vouchers was considered appropriate. Participants are not obliged to accept the vouchers; however, we offer them to reflect the time and inconvenience whole households experience taking part in this crucial study, and in particular allowing study workers to come to their homes.”
The ONS and the DHSC carry out the study in partnership with the University of Oxford, the University of Manchester, the UK Health Security Agency and the Wellcome Trust.
