The effect of vaccination on social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of vaccination on social isolation and loneliness. Data from 6,049 individuals were collected from the Understanding America Study (UAS). I use the fixed effect model with the panel data to control time-constant unobserved characteristics which affect vaccination status as well as social isolation. Vaccination was related to about 2 percentage points increase in the proportion of those who met family or friends in person. Days in the past week interacting with family or friends increased. Vaccination was also associated with about 1 percentage point decrease in the proportion of those who felt lonely for more than one day in the past week. The degree of loneliness measured by how often respondents felt lonely in the past week decreased by 2 percentage points for the vaccinated respondents. I found that vaccination decreased subjective social isolation (loneliness) and objective social isolation (interaction with people in person). I also consider the dynamic effect of vaccination status on social isolation. Results suggest that the effect of vaccination became bigger with increasing duration of vaccination.