Anticipation of COVID-19 vaccines reduces willingness to socially distance
(2021) In Journal of Health Economics 80.- Abstract
- We investigate how the anticipation of COVID-19 vaccines affects voluntary social distancing. In a large-scale preregistered survey experiment with a representative sample, we study whether providing information about the safety, effectiveness, and availability of COVID-19 vaccines affects the willingness to comply with public health guidelines. We find that vaccine information reduces peoples’ voluntary social distancing, adherence to hygiene guidelines, and their willingness to stay at home. Getting positive information on COVID-19 vaccines induces people to believe in a swifter return to normal life. The results indicate an important behavioral drawback of successful vaccine development: An increased focus on vaccines can lower... (More)
- We investigate how the anticipation of COVID-19 vaccines affects voluntary social distancing. In a large-scale preregistered survey experiment with a representative sample, we study whether providing information about the safety, effectiveness, and availability of COVID-19 vaccines affects the willingness to comply with public health guidelines. We find that vaccine information reduces peoples’ voluntary social distancing, adherence to hygiene guidelines, and their willingness to stay at home. Getting positive information on COVID-19 vaccines induces people to believe in a swifter return to normal life. The results indicate an important behavioral drawback of successful vaccine development: An increased focus on vaccines can lower compliance with public health guidelines and accelerate the spread of infectious disease. The results imply that, as vaccinations roll out and the end of a pandemic feels closer, policies aimed at increasing social distancing will be less effective, and stricter policies might be required. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/39924e69-1abf-4243-b76b-fc08fb76ccbd
- author
- Andersson, Ola ; Campos-Mercade, Pol ; Meier, Armando and Wengström, Erik LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2021
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Vaccine information, Social distancing, Vaccination, Information, Economic epidemiology, Public health communication, I12, I18, D83, D91
- in
- Journal of Health Economics
- volume
- 80
- article number
- 102530
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:34563830
- scopus:85115417674
- ISSN
- 0167-6296
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2021.102530
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 39924e69-1abf-4243-b76b-fc08fb76ccbd
- date added to LUP
- 2021-09-30 13:18:35
- date last changed
- 2022-04-27 04:21:16
@article{39924e69-1abf-4243-b76b-fc08fb76ccbd,
abstract = {{We investigate how the anticipation of COVID-19 vaccines affects voluntary social distancing. In a large-scale preregistered survey experiment with a representative sample, we study whether providing information about the safety, effectiveness, and availability of COVID-19 vaccines affects the willingness to comply with public health guidelines. We find that vaccine information reduces peoples’ voluntary social distancing, adherence to hygiene guidelines, and their willingness to stay at home. Getting positive information on COVID-19 vaccines induces people to believe in a swifter return to normal life. The results indicate an important behavioral drawback of successful vaccine development: An increased focus on vaccines can lower compliance with public health guidelines and accelerate the spread of infectious disease. The results imply that, as vaccinations roll out and the end of a pandemic feels closer, policies aimed at increasing social distancing will be less effective, and stricter policies might be required.}},
author = {{Andersson, Ola and Campos-Mercade, Pol and Meier, Armando and Wengström, Erik}},
issn = {{0167-6296}},
keywords = {{Vaccine information; Social distancing; Vaccination; Information; Economic epidemiology; Public health communication; I12; I18; D83; D91}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Journal of Health Economics}},
title = {{Anticipation of COVID-19 vaccines reduces willingness to socially distance}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2021.102530}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.jhealeco.2021.102530}},
volume = {{80}},
year = {{2021}},
}