Public Support for COVID-19 Test Allocation

Complementing other efforts to increase access to COVID-19 testing in the United States, the federal government recently announced the purchase of 500,000,000 at home COVID-19 to be distributed for free "to Americans that want them". A central logistical element in matching supply with demand will be a website, on which people will register their interest in getting tests delivered to their home address. However, it is still unclear how supply will be matched with demand. Three main candidate options are first come, first served (FCFS), in which people are sent tests in the order in which they make requests; a random draw, such as a lottery; or a combination of a random draw with a guaranteed reserved amount for more disadvantaged populations. FCFS is a widely known and practiced rationing principle, but it has shown to exacerbate inequities in, for example, the allocation of vaccine appointments. Random draws can mitigate this impact, but, in the present context, might be insufficiently sensitive to the fact that not everyone has internet access, and that the need for testing is greater among more disadvantaged communities. Combining a lottery with a disadvantage reserve system using measures such as the CDC's Social Vulnerability Index is a practical way of promoting equity, and it was already used by the majority of US states in allocating vaccines. The main objective of this study is to assess public support for each of these three allocation plans and describe differences by demographic characteristics. Investigators will also assess public attitudes toward specific details of these allocation plans. The study, which is expected to take approximately 5 minutes to complete, will be administered as part of an omnibus online survey.