Covid-19 Vaccine Passport and International Traveling: The Combined Effect of Two Nudges on Americans’ Support for the Pass

Abstract

Immunity passports have the potential to allow large scale international traveling to resume. However, they can only become an effective tool if they are widely supported by thegeneral public. We carry out a double blind randomized online experiment with a sample of N = 4000 Americans to study: i) whether two nudges can increase the level of support for COVID pass for international traveling; ii) the relationship between the effects of the nudges; and iii) if these nudges have a negative spillover on the intention to get vaccinated. We find that both nudges increase the support for the COVID pass and that their impact is stronger when they are used together. Moreover, we find that the two nudges do not affect negatively intentions to get vaccinated. Our findings have important implications for policymakers and for the nascent literature on the interaction among multiple nudges.

Receptiveness of and Implementation Considerations for COVID-19 Vaccination Certificates in Asia: A Survey Across 9 Countries

“…Proof of vaccination, often referred to as vaccine or immunity passports, has been in routine use for several years to lower infectious disease risk in different settings [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. These instruments have been critical not just as public health measures, but as a means to sustain economies and communities.…”

“…For Asia, some evidence indicates that NPIs such as mask mandates might continue to be practicable, even preferred, despite the relaxations with CVCs, unlike in Western countries where mandates have been dropped, only to be reinstated occasionally as new variants emerge [14][15][16][17]. With models indicating an inevitable steep rise in cases without the continued use of NPIs [12], estimating the appetite for their continuation and identifying nudges to support their use is an area of further investigation [7,8,18]. At the moment, mask mandates have almost entirely been removed in countries across the world, including on international air travel, and a resurgence in hospitalisation is slowly being observed with the newer Omicron variant, BA.5 [19].…”

“…On a global scale, siloed country efforts have resulted in the creation of numerous versions of vaccine and immunity verification (such as immunity certificates which are proofs of natural immunity from prior infection) and systems within which they operate [6] As a result, country-level CVCs are not easily recognisable and verifiable by others, fragmenting their global utility even under high-acceptance scenarios such as international travel. Only some countries, such as India, Indonesia and Thailand are now allowing an 'international version' outlining some basic information such as passport numbers to be listed [7]. This lack of interoperability has been cited as one of the biggest hurdles to the regional adoption of CVCs [6,8].…”