Can health passport overcome political hurdles to COVID-19 vaccination?

In this paper we examine whether a health passport that increases the cost of not getting vaccinated, can change the individual trade-off in favor of vaccination. To address this question, we study the impact of the announcement of the French health passport on factors affecting vaccine hesitancy. F...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:European Journal of Political Economy 2023-12, Vol.80, p.102453, Article 102453
Main Authors: François, Abel, Gergaud, Olivier, Noury, Abdul
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
COVID-19
Health passport
Political preferences
Public policy compliance
Vaccination
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In this paper we examine whether a health passport that increases the cost of not getting vaccinated, can change the individual trade-off in favor of vaccination. To address this question, we study the impact of the announcement of the French health passport on factors affecting vaccine hesitancy. First, using data from a survey conducted on the eve of the announcement date, we examine the determinants of vaccine hesitancy, and find that, prior to the introduction of the health passport, political preferences were significantly associated with vaccination rates. Then, using actual district-level data, we estimate the short-term impact of the health passport announcement on weekly COVID-19 vaccination rates and show that vaccine uptake significantly increased in the overall population, and particularly among the 20 to 39-year-old cohort. Focusing on the role of political factors, we find that vaccination rates increased significantly in districts with a high proportion of far right voters, thus highlighting that the health passport reversed the impact of some extreme political preferences on vaccine hesitancy.
ISSN:0176-2680
1873-5703
DOI:10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2023.102453