Is stronger religious faith associated with a greater willingness to take the COVID-19 vaccine? Evidence from Israel and Japan

Eyal Lahav (), Shosh Shahrabani, Mosi Rosenboim () and Yoshiro Tsutsui ()
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Eyal Lahav: The Open University of Israel
Mosi Rosenboim: Ben Gurion University of the Negev

The European Journal of Health Economics, 2022, vol. 23, issue 4, No 9, 687-703

Abstract: Abstract Achieving high vaccination rates is important for overcoming an epidemic. This study investigates the association between religious faith and intentions to become vaccinated against COVID-19 in Israel and Japan. Most of Israel’s population is monotheistic, whereas most Japanese are unaffiliated with any religion. Therefore, our findings might be applicable to various countries that differ in their religions and levels of religiosity. We conducted almost identical large-scale surveys four times in Israel and five times in Japan from March to June 2020 to obtain panel data. We found that intentions of getting vaccinated depend on people’s level of religiosity in a non-linear way. Those who have strong religious beliefs are less likely to become vaccinated than those who say they are less religious. Two other factors that play a role in this relationship are religious denomination in Israel and identifying with a religion in Japan.

Keywords: Vaccine; COVID-19; Religion; Precaution measures; WTP; HBM; Religiosity; Faith; SARS-Cov-2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I10 Z12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10198-021-01389-8

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