The majority of Canadians likely behaved as myopic rationalists rather than success-based learners when deciding on their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine
Date
2024
Authors
Aghaeeyan, Azadeth
Ramazi, Pouria
Lewis, Mark A.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Frontiers in Public Health
Abstract
Introduction: Successful vaccine promotion communication strategies require knowing how eligible recipients will respond to the opportunity to get vaccinated. Two main classes of recipients are myopic rationalists, those who receive a dose of vaccine only if it maximizes their own instant benefit and if so, do it as soon as possible, and success-based learners, those who learn from others that they perceive to be most successful.
Methods: A recent study models these two decision-making types, and estimates the population proportion of myopic rationalists in each U.S. state. In this report, we fit a similar model to data on COVID-19 vaccine uptake across the Canadian provinces and territories.
Results: We estimated that 64% of Canadians behaved as myopic rationalists in taking the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, compared to an estimated 47% in the United States. Among the provinces, the lowest proportion of myopic rationalists was 0.51 in Saskatchewan, while the highest was 0.74 in Prince Edward Island. The correlation analysis suggested a positive correlation between the proportion of myopic rationalists and the average age across the Canadian provinces (Pearson-r = 0.71).
Discussion: Canadian health management may benefit from these results in tailoring the vaccine promotion communication strategies.
Description
Keywords
Citation
Aghaeeyan, A., Ramazi, P., & Lewis, M. A. (2024). The majority of Canadians likely behaved as myopic rationalists rather than success-based learners when deciding on their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Frontiers in Public Health, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1406911