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Social Connections and COVID19 Vaccination

Author

Listed:
  • Arnab K. Basu
  • Nancy H. Chau
  • Oleg Firsin

Abstract

This paper unpacks the effects of social networks on county‐level COVID19 vaccinations in the US. We jointly assess the contemporaneous and dynamic network ef‐fects of vaccination exposure, to distinguish between network‐mediated contemporane‐ous effects (e.g., “vaccine‐hunter” Facebook groups crowd‐source information about ac‐cess and efficacy) and longer‐term effects (e.g., vaccine exposure chips away vaccine hesi‐tancy). Accounting for possible correlated shocks, socio‐economic/spatial confounders, and pandemic‐related shifters, we find positive stage‐of‐pandemic dependent contempo‐raneous friendship network effects, and null dynamic network effect, thus sharply dis‐tinguishing COVID19 vaccination from other infection‐mitigating practices in terms of openness to social‐learning over time.

Suggested Citation

  • Arnab K. Basu & Nancy H. Chau & Oleg Firsin, 2025. "Social Connections and COVID19 Vaccination," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(6), pages 1188-1213, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:34:y:2025:i:6:p:1188-1213
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.4953
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • H12 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Crisis Management

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