IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/hlthec/v31y2022i6p1266-1275.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Perceived risk and vaccine hesitancy: Quasi‐experimental evidence from Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Claudio Deiana
  • Andrea Geraci
  • Gianluca Mazzarella
  • Fabio Sabatini

Abstract

In March 2021, Italian health authorities suspended the Vaxzevria vaccine (VA) for 4 days over reports of very rare blood disorders among recipients. We exploit the quasi‐experimental setting arising from this break to study the drivers of vaccine hesitancy. Before the suspension, the VA vaccination trend followed the same pattern as Pfizer‐Biontech (PB). After the suspension, VA and PB injections started to diverge, with VA daily decreasing by almost 60 doses per 100,000 inhabitants for the following 3 weeks. The resulting vaccination rate was 60 percent lower than the value that would have stemmed from the VA pre‐suspension pattern. We show that the slowdown was weaker and less persistent in regions with higher COVID penetration and steadier and more pronounced in regions displaying greater attention to vaccine side effects as detected through Google searches. The public's interest in vaccine adverse events negatively correlates with COVID cases and deaths across regions.

Suggested Citation

  • Claudio Deiana & Andrea Geraci & Gianluca Mazzarella & Fabio Sabatini, 2022. "Perceived risk and vaccine hesitancy: Quasi‐experimental evidence from Italy," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(6), pages 1266-1275, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:31:y:2022:i:6:p:1266-1275
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.4506
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.4506
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/hec.4506?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jetter, Michael, 2017. "The effect of media attention on terrorism," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 32-48.
    2. Cornelia Betsch & Corina Ulshöfer & Frank Renkewitz & Tilmann Betsch, 2011. "The Influence of Narrative v. Statistical Information on Perceiving Vaccination Risks," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 31(5), pages 742-753, September.
    3. Oster, Emily, 2018. "Does disease cause vaccination? Disease outbreaks and vaccination response," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 90-101.
    4. Lenisa V. Chang, 2018. "Information, education, and health behaviors: Evidence from the MMR vaccine autism controversy," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(7), pages 1043-1062, July.
    5. Qian, Mengcen & Chou, Shin-Yi & Lai, Ernest K., 2020. "Confirmatory bias in health decisions: Evidence from the MMR-autism controversy," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    6. Simon Binder & Robert Nuscheler, 2017. "Risk‐taking in vaccination, surgery, and gambling environments: Evidence from a framed laboratory experiment," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(S3), pages 76-96, December.
    7. Vincenzo Carrieri & Leonardo Madio & Francesco Principe, 2019. "Vaccine hesitancy and (fake) news: Quasi‐experimental evidence from Italy," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(11), pages 1377-1382, November.
    8. Vincenzo Carrieri & Raffele Lagravinese & Giuliano Resce, 2021. "Predicting vaccine hesitancy from area‐level indicators: A machine learning approach," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(12), pages 3248-3256, December.
    9. Tomas Philipson, 1996. "Private Vaccination and Public Health: An Empirical Examination for U.S. Measles," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 31(3), pages 611-630.
    10. Mengcen Qian & Shin-Yi Chou & Ernest K. Lai, 2020. "Confirmatory Bias in Health Decisions: Evidence from the MMR-Autism Controversy," NBER Working Papers 26772, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Böhm, Robert & Betsch, Cornelia & Korn, Lars, 2016. "Selfish-rational non-vaccination: Experimental evidence from an interactive vaccination game," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 131(PB), pages 183-195.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Stefania Profeti & Federico Toth, 2023. "Climbing the 'ladder of intrusiveness': the Italian government's strategy to push the Covid-19 vaccination coverage further," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 56(4), pages 709-731, December.
    2. Stefano Castriota & Marco Delmastro & Mirco Tonin, 2023. "National or local infodemic? The demand for news in Italy during COVID-19," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 507-536, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Giulietti, Corrado & Vlassopoulos, Michael & Zenou, Yves, 2021. "When Reality Bites: Local Deaths and Vaccine Take-Up," GLO Discussion Paper Series 999, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    2. Hirani, Jonas Lau-Jensen, 2021. "Inattention or reluctance? Parental responses to vaccination reminder letters," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    3. Giulietti, Corrado & Vlassopoulos, Michael & Zenou, Yves, 2023. "When reality bites: Local deaths and vaccine take-up," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    4. Hirani, Jonas Cuzulan & Wüst, Miriam, 2023. "Reminder Design and Childhood Vaccination Coverage," IZA Discussion Papers 15877, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Serge Blondel & François Langot & Judith E. Mueller & Jonathan Sicsic, 2021. "Preferences and Covid-19 Vaccination Intentions," Working Papers hal-03381425, HAL.
    6. Anikó Bíró & Ágnes Szabó-Morvai, 2021. "Mass media coverage and vaccination uptake: evidence from the demand for meningococcal vaccinations in Hungary," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 22(6), pages 887-903, August.
    7. Schober, Thomas, 2020. "Effects of a measles outbreak on vaccination uptake," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    8. Hirani, Jonas Cuzulan & Wüst, Miriam, 2022. "Nurses and infant vaccination coverage," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 402-428.
    9. Sok Chul Hong & Eunju Lee & Seojung Oh, 2023. "Unintended health benefits of adopting preventive behaviors during a virus outbreak," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(2), pages 324-342, February.
    10. Vincenzo Carrieri & Raffele Lagravinese & Giuliano Resce, 2021. "Predicting vaccine hesitancy from area‐level indicators: A machine learning approach," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(12), pages 3248-3256, December.
    11. Stefan Pichler & Katherine Wen & Nicolas R. Ziebarth, 2021. "Positive Health Externalities of Mandating Paid Sick Leave," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(3), pages 715-743, June.
    12. Hoffmann, Manuel & Mosquera, Roberto & Chadi, Adrian, 2019. "Vaccines at Work," VfS Annual Conference 2019 (Leipzig): 30 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall - Democracy and Market Economy 203661, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    13. MERADEE, Tangvatcharapong, 2024. "The Impact of Vaccine Misinformation : Evidence from the US," CEI Working Paper Series 2023-07, Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    14. Josselin Thuilliez & Nouhoum Touré, 2024. "Opinions and vaccination during an epidemic," Post-Print hal-04490900, HAL.
    15. Brilli, Ylenia & Lucifora, Claudio & Russo, Antonio & Tonello, Marco, 2020. "Influenza vaccination behavior and media reporting of adverse events," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(12), pages 1403-1411.
    16. Lenisa V. Chang, 2018. "Information, education, and health behaviors: Evidence from the MMR vaccine autism controversy," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(7), pages 1043-1062, July.
    17. Humlum, Maria Knoth & Morthorst, Marius Opstrup & Thingholm, Peter Rønø, 2022. "Sibling Spillovers and the Choice to Get Vaccinated: Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design," IZA Discussion Papers 15109, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Arthur Juet, 2023. "The Online Vaccination Debate : The Case of France," Working Papers hal-04053614, HAL.
    19. Qian, Mengcen & Chou, Shin-Yi & Lai, Ernest K., 2020. "Confirmatory bias in health decisions: Evidence from the MMR-autism controversy," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    20. Martin Halla & Chia-Lun Liu & Jin-Tan Liu, 2019. "The Effect of Superstition on Health: Evidence from the Taiwanese Ghost Month," Economics working papers 2019-01, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media
    • L86 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:31:y:2022:i:6:p:1266-1275. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/5749 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.