COVID-19 vaccine preferences in India. Issue 15 (1st April 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bansal, Prateek; Raj, Alok; Mani Shukla, Dhirendra; Sunder, Naveen
• Is Part Of: Vaccine. Volume 40:Issue 15(2022)
• Page Start: 2242
• Page End: 2246
• Publication Date: 2022-04-01
• Subjects: Consumer economics: empirical analysis -- Design of experiments -- COVID-19 -- Vaccines; Vaccines -- Periodicals; 615.372
• DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.02.077
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0264-410X

Abstract

Abstract: India's mass vaccination efforts have been slow due to high levels of vaccine hesitancy. This study uses data from an online discrete choice experiment with 1371 respondents to rigorously examine the factors shaping vaccine preference in the country. We find that vaccine efficacy, presence of side effects, protection duration, distance to vaccination centre and vaccination rates within social network play a critical role in determining vaccine demand. We apply a non-parametric model to uncover heterogeneity in the effects of these factors. We derive two novel insights from this analysis. First, even though, on average, domestically developed vaccines are preferred, around 30% of the sample favours foreign-developed vaccines. Second, vaccine preference of around 15% of the sample is highly sensitive to the presence of side effects and vaccination uptake among their peer group. These results provide insights for the ongoing policy debate around vaccine adoption in India.