Contingent assessment of the COVID-19 vaccine

• Published in: Vaccine Vol. 38; no. 34; pp. 5424 - 5429
• Main Authors: García, Leidy Y., Cerda, Arcadio A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Ltd 22.07.2020; Elsevier Limited; The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd
• Subjects: Acceptance; Adult; Child; Chile - epidemiology; Chronic illnesses; Contingent valuation; Coronavirus Infections - economics; Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology; Coronavirus Infections - prevention & control; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 Vaccines; Economic conditions; Female; Format; GNI; Gross National Income; Health care expenditures; Health economics; Health insurance; Health Surveys; Humans; Immunization; Impact analysis; Laboratories; Male; Maximum likelihood method; Middle Aged; Normal distribution; Pandemics; Pandemics - economics; Pandemics - prevention & control; Pneumonia, Viral - economics; Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology; Pneumonia, Viral - prevention & control; Public health; Public Opinion; Questionnaires; R&D; Research & development; SARS-CoV-2; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Vaccine; Vaccines; Values; Variables; Viral Vaccines - economics; Willingness to pay; Chile; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Acceptance; Vaccine; Health economics; Contingent valuation
• ISSN: 0264-410X; 1873-2518; 1873-2518
• DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.06.068

•There is a high rate of people willing to be vaccinated against COVID-19.•The finding confirmed positive willingness to pay individuals for a COVID-19 vaccine.•Adaptation to working under quarantine affects the probability of paying.•Government performance in managing the pandemic influences the vaccine valuation.•The social valuation is 1.09% of the per capita gross domestic product. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only had a negative impact on people’s health and life behavior, but also on economies around the world. At the same time, laboratories and institutions are working hard to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine, which we hope will be available soon. However, there has been no assessment of whether an individual and society value ​​a vaccine monetarily, and what factors determine this value. Therefore, the objective of this research was to estimate the individual’s willingness to pay (WTP) for a hypothetical COVID-19 vaccine and, at the same time, find the main factors that determine this valuation. For this, we used the contingent valuation approach, in its single and double-bounded dichotomous choice format, which was based on a hypothetical market for a vaccine. The sample used was obtained through an online survey of n = 566 individuals from Chile. The main results showed that the WTP depends on the preexistence of chronic disease (p≤0.05), knowledge of COVID-19 (p≤0.05), being sick with COVID-19 (p≤0.05), perception of government performance (p≤0.01), employment status (p≤0.01), income (p≤0.01), health care (p≤0.05), adaptation to quarantine with children at home (p≤0.01) and whether the person has recovered from COVID-19 (p≤0.10). According to our discrete choice model in double-bounded dichotomous format, it was concluded that the individuals’ WTP is US$184.72 (CI: 165.52–203.92; p < 0.01). This implies a social valuation of approximately US$2232 million, corresponding to 1.09% of the GNP per capita.