Are High-Altitude Residents More Susceptible to Covid-19 in India? Findings and Potential Implications for Research and Policy.

In this paper, we study the incidence of COVID-19 and the associated fatality with altitude using high frequency, district level data from India. To understand the implications of the nationwide lockdown after the outbreak, we use data for about four months- two from the lockdown period starting from March 25 till May 31, 2020 and about two months after unlocking was initiated (June 1-July 26, 2020). The multivariate regression result indicates slower growth in average rate of infection during the lockdown period in hilly regions, the gains of which attenuated after the unlocking was initiated.

On willingness to pay for Covid-19 vaccines: a case study from India.

In this paper, using survey data from 1251 respondents from peri-urban parts in the Bhopal district of India, we estimated the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for hypothetical Covid-19 vaccines. We use open-ended questions along with the discrete choice contingent valuation method for two vaccines, one with full efficacy and the other with 70% efficacy. While no major evidence of vaccine hesitancy was observed, we found a WTP of about Rs.