Investigating Supply & Demand Side Factors of a Massive Covid-19 Vaccination Drive: Experimental Evidence from Indonesia

印度尼西亚正在抗击亚洲最严重的冠状病毒疫情之一。依靠使用中国Coronavac的大规模疫苗接种运动，政府的目标是在未来15个月内为超过1.8亿人（占人口的三分之二）接种疫苗。除了后勤方面的挑战外，这场运动的成功将关键取决于民众对Coronavac疫苗的接受程度。然而，对“中国”疫苗的怀疑和缺乏信任是普遍存在的。特别是在占全国人口90%的穆斯林中，反华情绪和对疫苗成分不符合清真要求的担忧很常见。除了对疫苗接种率的担忧外，还存在一些供应方面的挑战。尽管疫苗将免费提供，但预计供应短缺。国家专家担心，这将导致穷人和弱势群体在疫苗接种运动中被系统性地排除在外。这些担忧进一步加剧，因为腐败和贿赂在印度尼西亚卫生系统中很常见，这可能使许多人负担不起疫苗接种费用。本项目旨在同时审查两个方面-供应和需求方面的关切。具体而言，该项目要求：a. 宗教信仰如何影响疫苗接种，信息提供如何克服宗教担忧？B. 在获得疫苗方面的歧视程度如何，腐败在这方面的作用如何？本项目通过信息处理实验和审计研究来研究这些问题。它被组织成两个工作包（WP）：WP 1将提供对宗教信仰和接种疫苗（错误）信息的作用的见解。WP 2将研究在获得疫苗方面的歧视。这两个方面在印度尼西亚的背景下具有高度的政策相关性，但也适用于全球南方的其他国家，这些国家有大量的穆斯林人口和歧视和腐败现象普遍的卫生系统。此外，拟议的研究将为印度尼西亚的大规模疫苗接种运动提供及时和必要的投入，这将使决策者能够优化该运动的推出。

Indonesia is fighting one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in Asia. Relying on a massive vaccination drive using China’s Coronavac the government aims to create herd immunity and vaccinate over 180 million people – two third of the population – over the next 15 months. Besides logistical challenges the success of the campaign will critically hinge on the population’s acceptance of the Coronavac vaccine. Skepticisms and lack of trust into the ‘Chinese’ vaccine are, however, widespread. Particularly among Muslims who make up 90 percent of the country’s population, anti-Chinese sentiments and concerns that components of the vaccine are not halal are common. In addition to concerns about vaccination take-up, a number of supply side challenges exist. Even though the vaccine will be provided free of charge, shortage in supply is expected. Country experts are worried that this will lead to systematic exclusion of the poor and vulnerable in the vaccination drive. These concerns are further exacerbated because corruption and bribe payments are common in the Indonesian health system, which might make vaccinations unaffordable for many. This project aims to examine both aspects – supply and demand side concerns – together. Specifically, the project asks: a. How does religiousness affect vaccination take-up and how does information provision overcome religious concerns?b. What is the extent of discrimination in access to the vaccine and what is the role of corruption in this context? The project studies these questions using an information treatment experiment and an audit study. It is organized into two work packages (WP): WP 1 will provide insights into the role of religious beliefs and (mis-)information for vaccination take-up. WP 2 will study discrimination in the access to the vaccine. Both aspects are highly policy relevant in the context of Indonesia but also for other countries in the Global South with large Muslim populations and with health systems where discrimination and corruption are common. Furthermore, the proposed study will provide timely and essential input to Indonesia’s mass vaccination drive which will allow policy makers to optimize the roll-out of the campaign.