The effect of altruism on COVID-19 vaccination rates

Health Economics Review

Research

Antonio J. Garzón¹  Luis Á. Hierro¹  Pedro Atienza¹  David Patiño¹  David Cantarero² 

[1] Department of Economics and Economic History, University of Sevilla, Avda. Ramón y Cajal, S/N, 41018, Seville, Spain;Department of Economics, Universidad de Cantabria, Research Group on Health Economics and Health Services Management—Marqués de Valdecilla Research Institute (IDIVAL), Avda. de los Castros S/N, 39005, Santander, Spain;

关键词: Altruism;    Vaccines;    COVID-19;    hesitancy;    Externality;    Herd immunity;    Public health;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s13561-022-00415-6

 received in 2022-07-13, accepted in 2022-12-22,  发布年份 2022

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAfter the emergence of the first vaccines against the COVID-19, public health authorities have promoted mass vaccination in order to achieve herd immunity and reduce the effects of the disease. Vaccination rates have differed between countries, depending on supply (availability of resources) and demand (altruism and resistance to vaccination) factors.MethodsThis work considers the hypothesis that individuals’ health altruism has been an important factor to explain the different levels of vaccination between countries, using the number of transplants as a proxy for altruism. Taking European Union’s countries to remove, as far as possible, supply factors that might affect vaccination, we carry out cross-sectional regressions for the most favorable date of the vaccination process (maximum vaccination speed) and for each month during the vaccination campaign.ResultsOur findings confirm that altruism has affected vaccination rates against the COVID-19. We find a direct relationship between transplants rates (proxy variable) and vaccination rates during periods in which the decision to be vaccinated depended on the individual’s choice, without supply restrictions. The results show that other demand factors have worked against vaccination: political polarization and belonging to the group of countries of the former Eastern bloc.ConclusionsAltruism is a useful tool to define future vaccination strategies, since it favors the individuals’ awareness for vaccination.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2022

【 图 表 】

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