Essential for society but not equally deserving of preferential treatment? A discrete-choice experiment regarding COVID-19 healthcare

Workers' risks of contracting COVID-19 vary according to individual behaviors, occupations and job characteristics. Therefore, persons may consider different groups of workers more or less deserving of COVID-19 healthcare. To evaluate such preferences, we conducted an online conjoint experiment on the precedence of ICU treatment and COVID-19 vaccination. Our results demonstrate that working in essential occupations increases the likelihood of being considered deserving of vaccination and ICU treatment. We also find differences in how essential workers are prioritized, yet these differences cannot be clearly attributed to risk exposure or occupational prestige. Furthermore, we show that age, asthma, household context and compliance with COVID-19 measures significantly affect respondents’ choices, while weight matters only for vaccination priority. Our results therefore contribute to research regarding the characteristics that are salient to fair distributions of scarce resources among workers during a health crisis.