What are the Causes of Variation in Vaccination Rates Between Countries? Empirical Evidence from a Set of Developed and Developing Countries

Abstract

Over two years, the Coronavirus pandemic radically changed the worldwide people's lifestyles and widely affected the socioeconomic environment. However, the development of new vaccines against covid-19 seems to be the first and only hope to mitigate this pandemic and go back to normal life. Several mass vaccination campaigns have been planned to vaccinate as many people as possible. Nonetheless, a wide range of people did not take their vaccines for hesitancy reason of the inequality of disturbance of vaccines. Hence, focusing on the macroeconomic factors, this study outlines the primary causes of the gap in vaccination rates between countries, specifically between developed and developing countries. The results provide interested insights: GDP has a positive and significant effect on the vaccination rate. However, the rural population rate negatively affects the vaccination rate. It is noteworthy that a more equitable disturbance of vaccines is required. Moreover, mass media campaign should be omnipresent to encourage people, particularly in rural zones, to obtain the vaccine.