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OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT04870593

What Works to Get the Elderly Vaccinated Against COVID-19? Experimental Evidence From India

COVID-19 poses a substantial risk to elderly populations; understanding how to get elders vaccinated against the virus is therefore a policy priority. An experiment with elders in Tamil Nadu, India will be used to evaluate interventions policymakers might use to raise vaccination rates amongst the elderly. The particular interventions being tested are: calling elders to inform them about vaccination; encouragement of a "buddy system," whereby elders are accompanied to the vaccination site by another adult who could also get the vaccine; and seeding vaccination information with "gossips," individuals who elders identify as being good at spreading information in the elders' communities. The interventions are phone-based, and can be implemented quickly and at low cost. This makes them promising strategies the Tamil Nadu government and other governments could use to vaccinate elderly populations against COVID-19.

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Key information

Conditions

Aging COVID-19 Coronaviridae Infections Coronavirus Infections Covid19 Infections Lung Diseases Nidovirales Infections Pneumonia Pneumonia, Viral RNA Virus Infections Respiratory Tract Diseases Respiratory Tract Infections Virus Diseases

Age range

55 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

JPAL SA at IFMR

Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • At least 55 years of age
  • Has phone number

Exclusion criteria

  • Not part of the experiments registered under protocol IDs 223749 or 172020

Treatment and study plan

Information

Behavioral

Elder informed about vaccination.

Buddy

Behavioral

Elder encouraged to get vaccinated using "buddy system," whereby he/she is accompanied to the vaccination site by another adult who could also get the vaccine. A potential buddy also given vaccination information and encouraged to help the elder get to the vaccination site so they could both be vaccinated.

Gossip intervention

Behavioral

Members of elder's community asked who in the community is good at spreading information. These "gossips" then asked to spread information about vaccination of elders. If buddy intervention assigned in community, gossips also asked to encourage their communities to use the buddy system to get elders vaccinated.

Information assigned in community

Behavioral

Information intervention assigned for other elders in community.

Buddy assigned in community

Behavioral

Buddy intervention assigned for other elders in community.

Primary outcomes

  1. Received at least one shot

    Time frame: 8 weeks after intervention

    Elders asked on phone call if they have received zero, one, or two doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Outcome takes the value of 1 if they received at least one shot, and 0 otherwise.

  2. Received two shots

    Time frame: 8 weeks after intervention

    Elders asked on phone call if they have received zero, one, or two doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Outcome takes the value of 1 if they received two shots, and 0 otherwise.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

Other

Registry information

Important dates

Study start
2021
Primary completion
2022
Study completion
2022
First posted
May 3, 2021
Registry last updated
Mar 29, 2023

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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