Willingness to pay for COVID‐19 test and vaccine in South Africa and Ghana: A contingent valuation study

Abstract

AbstractAlthough from a public health perspective, governments are expected to finance the cost of testing and vaccination against the COVID‐19 pandemic, most African countries do not have the resources to do these. Individuals' willingness to pay (WTP) for COVID‐19 testing and vaccination is thus crucial. We employ the Contingent Valuation Method to assess WTP for COVID‐19 testing and vaccine and also investigate factors associated with WTP in South Africa and Ghana. On average, respondents in South Africa are willing to pay US$16.29 for COVID‐19 testing, whereas those in Ghana are willing to pay US$9.69. In terms of the COVID‐19 vaccine, South Africans are willing to pay twice (US$41.83) as high as the amount Ghanaians are willing to pay (US$20.36). The results from the probit and tobit estimations on factors associated with WTP show that WTP for COVID‐19 testing and vaccine are correlated with income, education, employment, gender, having tested for COVID‐19, travel experience, and low satisfaction with the government's COVID‐19 measures. These findings suggest that the private sector can play a crucial role in COVID‐19 testing and the deployment of COVID‐19 vaccines because people are willing to pay. However, there may be a need for subsidisation for the poor.