Safe at Last? Late Effects of a Mass Immunization Campaign on Households’ Economic Insecurity

We study the effects of receiving immunization from COVID-19 on households' economic insecurity. To provide causal estimates we use a fuzzy regression discontinuity design which takes advantage of the UK's immunization plan. The plan was primarily based on age, granting differential eligibility to proximate cohorts. Our estimated local average treatment effect indicates that the share of households who declared being economically insecure dropped by 41 percentage points among those who received the vaccine due to the eligibility criteria. Using a difference-in-discontinuity design we next document that immunization was more salient for women as well as for large households and those with children. Our results suggest that the mass immunization campaign against COVID-19 had relevant short-run economic effects, well beyond its expected impact on people's health.