Vaccination Against COVID-19: Human Behavior and Public Policy Analyzed from Behavioral Economics

Abstract

Society is facing a global pandemic, causing millions of deaths and hundreds of millions of infections. The importance of vaccination to face COVID-19 is decisive in the fight against the virus. However, many people have decided not to get vaccinated, ruining public health policy. The objective of this article is to apply knowledge about behavioral economics in the explanation of the behavior of those who decide not to be vaccinated, as well as the use of decision architecture and nudges for the design of behavioral interventions. The methodology used was qualitative, supported by bibliographic search and content analysis, with theoretical methods such as historical-logical analysis and deductive and hypothetical analysis. Behavioral economics has been used to modify behaviors associated with chronic non communicable diseases, so it can provide a solution to increase the number of people who are inoculated against the virus. The perception of risk and uncertainty, the amount of information and social pressure are identified as factors that influence the decision, as well as various heuristics and cognitive biases. The design of behavioral interventions should employ nudges in the decision architecture, starting from the "simple, attractive, social and timely" methodology as an opportunity to increase the number of people who are vaccinated.