Estimation of The Value of COVID-19 Vaccine in General Public in South- east of Iran: A Willingness to pay Study

Background: The COVID-19 virus is a recent global phenomenon that emerged in 2019, and its impact has affected the lives of billions of people in various ways. Since the government provides vaccination for free, it is necessary to perform an economic valuation through willingness-to-pay analysis to determine its value in monetary terms. This study aims to estimate the amount that the general public of Kerman city is willing to pay for COVID-19 vaccine. Methods: This is a cross-sectional survey study conducted in September 2022 using face-to-face interviews with the general public of Kerman city, located in the southeastern region of Iran. Cochran's formula was used to determine the sample size of 500 households, selected through the Multistage sampling method. An open-ended question approach was employed to estimate the willingness of individuals to pay for the COVID-19 vaccine. The main questionnaire of the study consisted of three parts. Quantification tests were conducted to check for normality and variance heterogeneity, and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to verify the normality of the data. Stata 17 software was used for data analysis. Results: The open-ended question results of the respondents' willingness to pay for the COVID-19 vaccine showed that the highest average stated was for the AstraZeneca vaccine ($9.73), while the lowest average reported was for the domestically produced vaccine ($5.74). Factors affecting the willingness to pay were examined, and it was found that variables such as employment status, education level, attitude towards vaccination, income, and number of vaccine doses significantly influenced the willingness to pay. Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, as low-income individuals and those with lower levels of education reported a lower willingness to pay, it is recommended that the government provide free vaccination to low-income groups and focus on building trust and promoting vaccine culture among those with lower education levels. Additionally, measures can be taken to enable high-income individuals to obtain the vaccine through the private sector.