TY - JOUR
T1 - Addressing vaccine hesitancy using local ambassadors
T2 - a randomized controlled trial in Indonesia
AU - Islam, Asad
AU - Kusnadi, Gita
AU - Rezki, Jahen
AU - Sim, Armand
AU - van Empel, Giovanni
AU - Vlassopoulos, Michael
AU - Zenou, Yves
N1 - Funding Information:
We are grateful to Elghafiky Bimardhika, Hamdan Bintara, Raka Fadilla, Vida Parady, Lovina Putri, Temy Ramadan, Leli Rachmawati, Arya Swarnata, and a team of enumerators for excellent assistance. We thank Joseph Marshan, Firman Witoelar, and seminar participants at AHESS in Brisbane, Australian National University, BIDS conference in Dhaka, and University of Indonesia for comments. We thank Monash Business School, United States of America and J-PAL, United States of America for funding support. The study is pre-registered on the AEA RCT Registry (AEARCTR-0008601). We received IRB approval from Monash University and the University of Indonesia.
Funding Information:
We are grateful to Elghafiky Bimardhika, Hamdan Bintara, Raka Fadilla, Vida Parady, Lovina Putri, Temy Ramadan, Leli Rachmawati, Arya Swarnata, and a team of enumerators for excellent assistance. We thank Joseph Marshan, Firman Witoelar, and seminar participants at AHESS in Brisbane, Australian National University, BIDS conference in Dhaka, and University of Indonesia for comments. We thank Monash Business School, United States of America and J-PAL, United States of America for funding support. The study is pre-registered on the AEA RCT Registry (AEARCTR-0008601). We received IRB approval from Monash University and the University of Indonesia.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s)
PY - 2024/4
Y1 - 2024/4
N2 - In settings where resistance and rampant misinformation against vaccines exist, the prospect of containing infectious diseases remains a challenge. Can delivery of information regarding the benefits of vaccination through personal home visits by local ambassadors increase vaccine uptake? We conduct a door-to-door randomized information campaign targeted towards COVID-19 unvaccinated individuals in rural Indonesia. We recruited ambassadors from local villages tasked to deliver information about COVID-19 vaccines and promote vaccination through one-on-one meetings, using an interpersonal behavioral change communication approach. To investigate which type of ambassador – health cadres, influential individuals, and laypersons – is the most effective, we randomly vary the type of ambassador that delivers the information at the village level. We find that the overall vaccination take-up is quite moderate and that there are no differences in vaccination outcomes across the treatment groups. These results highlight the challenge of boosting vaccine uptake in late stages of a pandemic.
AB - In settings where resistance and rampant misinformation against vaccines exist, the prospect of containing infectious diseases remains a challenge. Can delivery of information regarding the benefits of vaccination through personal home visits by local ambassadors increase vaccine uptake? We conduct a door-to-door randomized information campaign targeted towards COVID-19 unvaccinated individuals in rural Indonesia. We recruited ambassadors from local villages tasked to deliver information about COVID-19 vaccines and promote vaccination through one-on-one meetings, using an interpersonal behavioral change communication approach. To investigate which type of ambassador – health cadres, influential individuals, and laypersons – is the most effective, we randomly vary the type of ambassador that delivers the information at the village level. We find that the overall vaccination take-up is quite moderate and that there are no differences in vaccination outcomes across the treatment groups. These results highlight the challenge of boosting vaccine uptake in late stages of a pandemic.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Health behaviors
KW - Indonesia
KW - Misinformation
KW - Vaccine hesitancy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85183933703&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2024.104683
DO - 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2024.104683
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85183933703
SN - 0014-2921
VL - 163
JO - European Economic Review
JF - European Economic Review
M1 - 104683
ER -