Age-Specific Crisis Awareness Survey for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): How Much Do You Think You Should Pay for Hypothetical Prophylactic Vaccine and Therapeutic Drug for COVID-19?

Abstract BACKGROUND: The spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been a worldwide phenomenon with 2,063,161 people infected and 136,938 deaths globally as of April 16, 2020. This study conducted a chronological survey of crisis awareness regarding COVID-19 within different age groups.METHODS: An internet-based survey was performed of healthy Japanese adults to investigate the value of a hypothetical prophylactic vaccine and therapeutic drug for COVID-19 in each age group. The survey was conducted on Friday of each week commencing from February 14, 2020 to April 10, 2020. At certain times or events such as when the government released major announcements or when there was a rapid increase in the number of infected individuals, a similar survey was conducted on an additional 1,200 individuals per week.RESULTS: A total of 12 surveys, including weekly surveys spanning over 9 weeks, were conducted, and a total of 19,113 samples from 12,254 individuals were obtained. The mean price for a hypothetical prophylactic vaccine was 2876.3 JPY (26.9 USD) at the first survey and was significantly increased to 3357.4 JPY (31.4 USD) for the most recent survey (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Though the percentage of those who will not pay were higher in young age group than in elderly age group, the percentage of those who will pay more than standard costs of influenza vaccine or treatment drugs were same between each aging group.