Promoting COVID-19 vaccination in India

Last registered on September 06, 2022

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Promoting COVID-19 vaccination in India
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0008599
Initial registration date
June 22, 2022

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
June 26, 2022, 5:22 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
September 06, 2022, 2:41 AM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Economic Research Unit, Indian Statistical Institute Kolkata

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
Monash University
PI Affiliation
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
PI Affiliation
Asian Development Bank
PI Affiliation
Monash University

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2021-11-01
End date
2024-12-31
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Using a RCT design, we will attempt to understand the issue of vaccine hesitancy in India and understand whether awareness campaign about the benefits associated with vaccination, non-financial incentives provided via a sure gift or lucky draw gift payment (both conditional upon acceptance), making vaccine more accessible or communication intervention to address misconception by eminent figures in the community reduce vaccine hesitancy and lead to widespread vaccination using the government funded free vaccines. Therefore, the objective of this study is to understand the barriers to vaccine take-up and identify the most effective way to increase it.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Islam, Asadul et al. 2022. "Promoting COVID-19 vaccination in India." AEA RCT Registry. September 06. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.8599-1.1
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
To isolate the effect of each of the different interventions (non-financial incentive (gifts) vis-à-vis accessibility vis-à-vis campaign or communication intervention to address misconception) on willingness to take vaccines and actually getting vaccinated, we will randomly assign about 8,000 individuals aged 18-65 years (one from each household) randomly selected from about 884 different locations (both rural and urban) across three different districts (Mahoba, Farrukabad and Sitapur) in Uttar Pradesh to one of the five treatments and one control group. The choice of Uttar Pradesh as the research locale is justified by the wide prevalence of hesitancy to get vaccinated despite availability in the state.
Intervention (Hidden)
The five different treatments that we will focus on in the proposed project are as follows:

Treatment 1 (T1): Information campaign only. In this treatment, participants will receive basic information about the available Covid19 vaccines and the benefits of having it to protect from Covid19 for themselves and for their loves ones. The information will be delivered verbally by the field workers on behalf of the researchers to each participant based on a 1-page information sheet (maximum time will be about 10-15 minutes) and the information will be designed specifically for this study based on the information provided from reliable sources such as WHO as well as national health ministries.

Treatment 2 (T2): Information + sure gift worth INR 400 (i.e., $6 approx) conditional upon vaccination in order to compensate them for lost daily wages due to travel and forgone earnings for additional day's work in case of any side effects that may arise. Our enumerators will give respondents the gift within two weeks upon confirmation of vaccination (e.g., physical or digital vaccination certificate).

Treatment 3 (T3): Information + participation in a lucky draw with a 5% chance of winning a gift worth INR 8,000 ($120 approx), conditional upon vaccination. The expected value from this lucky draw will be the same as the sure payment treatment (Treatment 2). Our research team, including enumerators and field coordinators, will be involved in drawing the lucky draw each month, determine eligible participants (i.e., respondents confirmed to have received vaccine), and deliver the gifts to the winner. Thus, as part of the lucky draw one out of 20 individuals (who participated in the study, got the information from us and got vaccinated) will be randomly selected by the research team to receive gift worth INR 8,000. The gift will be made available to the winner within two weeks of the lucky draw results being declared.

Treatment 4 (T4): Information + Accessibility (helping them with registration/enrolment, travelling to get vaccinated, and reminding/encouraging them to get vaccinated at the right time via brief telephone reminders). The gentle and brief reminder will be provided both through a phone call as well as a SMS about two weeks after the intervention is delivered. We will help the target group with the registration procedure and will track their progress from registration to vaccination, reminding them to get vaccinated (all free of cost). They will also be provided help with identifying the nearest vaccination center and travelling to the same, and any travelling cost using the most convenient travel mode as locally available.

Treatment 5 (T5): Information + campaign/motivation by eminent figures in the community (e.g., village leaders, teachers, doctors, etc). We will approach village leaders to identify the most respected and trusted eminent figure in their community (e.g., religious leaders, teachers, doctors) and ask him/her to campaign and propagate information to address misconceptions related to the available vaccines. To be more convincing and credible, the selected individuals should already be vaccinated or at least have registered to get vaccinated. Campaigning by eminent figures will start as soon as he/she is selected.

Specifically, the selected eminent figures (we call them 'Ambassadors')will be asked to campaign and propagate specific information (in addition to basic information being provided to all) to address misconceptions related to the available vaccines. Ambassadors will speak with the unvaccinated selected individuals one-to-one by visiting them while following strict health protocols (e.g., every respondent and ambassador will wear mask, maintain 1.5 meters between individuals, open air space), and try to convince them to get vaccinated. The meeting will occur once during the campaign period (1 month) and each meeting will last for a maximum 1 hour. The campaign will be based on context-specific information and guidelines provided by the central and local government bodies and will dispel misperceptions about the disease, the available vaccines, distribution of infection and fatality rates and improve knowledge about COVID-19 prevention and transmission etc. In addition, to enhance information retention about the information session, the ambassadors will deliver a pamphlet that summarizes key information about COVID-19 vaccines.

The pure control group (T0) will receive no such intervention.

The research team will visit the participants about one month after the intervention to verify their vaccination status. They will be visited again one month after the first verification to update the vaccination status and conduct the endline and spillover surveys (which will ask randomly selected individuals from the villages about their vaccination status- to understand if the intervention also influenced other people to get vaccinated).

The vaccination status will be verified using the registration information and text messages sent by the govt's department of public health confirming the dose of the vaccine and the date being vaccinated.
Intervention Start Date
2022-07-01
Intervention End Date
2022-08-15

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Knowledge about COVID-19 and vaccines, beliefs about COVID-19 and vaccines, vaccination intention and uptake.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Fear of COVID infection, compliance behaviors related to COVID-19 such as mask wearing, susceptibility to post-intervention COVID-19 infection.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We will select a total of about 884 different locations of different sizes (both rural and urban) across several districts in India and on average about 9 individuals (one individual from each household) from each of these locations for the study. Randomization into treatment and control groups will be done next also at the location level. There will be five treatment and one control group.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
The 8,000 eligible households identified from about 884 regions will be randomised at the location level (using STATA on the office computer). From each household, we will focus on adult individuals who are eligible for Covid19 vaccine free of cost, yet unvaccinated at the time of listing and intervention.
Randomization Unit
Location level.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
884 locations (from both rural and urban regions).
Sample size: planned number of observations
About 8,000 individuals (one from each household).
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
About 8,000 selected individuals identified from the 884 locations will be randomised (using a computer program), with 295 locations in the pure control (T0), 103 in information campaign only (T1) arm, 124 locations in T2, 133 locations in T3, 118 locations in T4 and 111 locations in the T5 arm.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
IRB Approval Date
2021-09-02
IRB Approval Number
IITK/IEC/2021-22/I/14
Analysis Plan

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Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials