Vaccine-skeptic physicians and patient vaccination decisions.
Health Econ
; 33(3): 509-525, 2024 Mar.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38015034
ABSTRACT
What is the role of general practitioners (GPs) in supporting or hindering public health efforts? We investigate the influence of vaccine-skeptic GPs on their patients' decisions to get a COVID-19 vaccination. We identify vaccine-skeptic GPs from the signatories of an open letter in which 199 Austrian physicians expressed their skepticism about COVID-19 vaccines. We examine small rural municipalities where patients choose a GP primarily based on geographic proximity. These vaccine-skeptic GPs reduced the vaccination rate by 5.6 percentage points. This estimate implies that they discouraged 7.9% of the vaccinable population. The effect appears to stem from discouragement rather than rationing vaccine access.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Vacunas
/
Médicos Generales
Límite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article