In early 2021, most countries began to roll out their Covid-19 vaccination programs. The aim is to get a large fraction of the population fully vaccinated[1]as possible so as to obtain "herd immunity". This means that those who are unable to have the Covid-19 vaccination (due to age, allergies or health issues) are also reasonably well-protected against the disease due to the other members of the population not spreading the disease. The exact percentage of the population that needs to be vaccinated is not yet known,according to the WHO, but it is expected to be a large percentage.

Describe why herd immunity is a public good and analyse the reasons why achieving herd immunity through vaccination may be difficult with a vaccination program in which members of the population aren't forced to get vaccines. You should consider the costs and benefits to the individual of getting vaccinated, using the baseline situation where individuals must pay for the vaccine dose(s) themselves. Also consider how the individual incentive to get vaccinated reduces as the number of people getting vaccinated increases (hint: take into account the incentive to free-ride on the 'contributions' to herd immunity made by others).

Identify the ways in which the New Zealand government is encouraging people in New Zealand to get vaccinated, via the "price" it has set on the vaccine, and its public awareness campaigns, and explain how these forms of encouragement are expected to work to increase vaccination uptake. (Hint: the followingMinistry of Health information(Links to an external site.)

may be of use.)

If this approach by the government does not result in sufficient vaccination uptake to obtain herd immunity, suggest one alternative measure that you think the government should take to achieve increased vaccination uptake, and assess the advantages and disadvantages of your suggested measure, relative to those currently being employed by the government.

[1]Fully vaccinated here means having the required number of doses as specified by the vaccine's manufacturer.