The Willingness to Vaccinate against COVID-19 in Italy: A Discrete Choice Experiment

In an effort to understand the determinants of the choice to vaccinate against COVID-19 this chapter presents the results of a stated preference survey administered to an Italian representative sample between February 1st and February 8th, 2022 for a total of 1,327 valid interviews. Scenarios to vaccinate against a hypothetical SARS-Cov-2 and against the seasonal flu are provided and results compared. Most respondents choose to vaccinate in all scenarios, (“vaccine enthusiasts”), circa 30% make variable decisions and a minor share never choose to vaccinate (“vaccine resistants”). The results of a logit model show that respondents who see vaccination as a civic duty, are in favor of mandatory vaccination, think that COVID-19 is a serious disease, have moderate political views, are not employed as blue collars or housewives, and declare to have at least some trust in the government are more likely to be COVID-19 vaccine enthusiasts. The results of a multinomial logit model on the respondents who made variable decisions in the COVID-19-related scenarios show that the likelihood to vaccinate increases if the spread of the disease is high, if vaccination is mandatory to go to work, if the vaccine is mRNA based, if vaccination is mandatory to access to recreational activities, to take long means of transportation, and if a negative swab test is not sufficient to be exempted from vaccination. Our findings could be useful for policy makers and health officials, especially in developed countries, to foster the vaccination uptake, devising the most effective strategy for the acceptance of future additional “booster” doses. Policy makers may rely on our results to choose the type of vaccine, strategy of administration, and restrictive measures with the largest impact on the willingness to vaccinate. Health officials may rely on our evidence to shape the communication about vaccination campaigns to reduce the risk of mistrust on health institutions and pharmaceutical companies.