Willingness to give amid pandemics: a contingent valuation of anticipated nongovernmental immunization programs

Given that altruism is crucial in assisting impoverished households to cope with health and economic crises, it is important to improve our understanding of how preferences and motives for giving differ during a pandemic. We implemented a web-based, contingent valuation survey to estimate Americans’ willingness to give for nongovernmental immunization programs in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our results indicate that the median person is willing to give a one-time donation of $26, or at least $13 when willingness-to-give estimates are corrected for uncertainty regarding future donations. We find that willingness to give is related to income, concern levels, vaccine usage, and sociodemographic characteristics. Our findings also shed light on purely and impurely altruistic motives underlying the willingness to fund immunization programs.