Uneven vaccine uptake across industries

Vaccine adoption
slow in worst hit industries?
Duh! It’s the workers

Somewhat counterintuitively, workers in the industries most affected by Covid-19 were slower to get vaccinated than workers in the least affected industries.

We explain this raw correlation in terms of differences in worker characteristics.

On average, less affected industry workers are more qualified and are more likely to have a history of influenza vaccination. Both these characteristics are strongly associated with early vaccine adoption.

Worker sorting suggests that employers could be recruited to help close gaps in vaccination rates among hard-to-reach subpopulations.

Citation

Fabling, R. 2026. “Uneven vaccine uptake across industries”. Motu Working Paper 26-05. Motu Economic and Public Policy Research. Wellington, New Zealand.