In Fall 2020, I enrolled in an undergraduate epidemiology course taught by Professor Miranda Worthen where I had the opportunity to partake in a class project in relation to COVID-19. We conducted a cross sectional survey assessing how the pandemic affected college students and their social networks. The following semester, the professor selected a few students to work on this research study. I was fortunate to join other students and statistics professor, Dr. Charles Park, to analyze and disseminate our findings. Within our team, we each had the chance to closely examine the various components of the cross sectional survey. I personally was interested in student’s trust levels in relation to their willingness to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Through this study, I wanted to evaluate how demographic factors such as race and gender influence what sources people trust for information about the COVID-19 vaccine. Long-existing inequities in the social determinants of health have affected attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine and willingness to take the vaccine. We investigated sources that diverse young adults trust to provide accurate information about the vaccine. I also wanted to discuss how willingness to vaccinate among minority groups may indicate a health disparity among minority groups. San José State University is an Asian American, Native American, Pacific Islander, and Hispanic-Serving Institution. The epidemiology students had conducted a survey in October 2020 to assess attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine and sources of trust in accurate vaccine information (n=402). We used regression analyses to assess differences by race, ethnicity, and other social categories in the differences of these variables. Overall, we found that people were most likely to trust their doctor to provide accurate information about the COVID-19 vaccine. Out of the participants, Chinese young adults reported more trust in doctors and Vietnamese young adults reported more trust in local public health officials and news media. On the other hand, Black, Latinx, and Multiracial participants had less trust in all sources compared to all Asian and White groups. Women were also less likely to have trust in these sources. Based on our analysis, we did not observe significant differences in trust levels among the participants based on sexual orientation or nativity. There were striking differences in willingness to vaccinate, with Black, Latinx, and Multiracial participants reporting less willingness (92.3%, 43.8%, 62.4% respectively reported they were either probably not or definitely not interested in receiving the vaccine) and Asian and White participants reporting more willingness (67.9% and 64.5% respectively reporting that they probably would or definitely would receive the vaccine). As a team, we were definitely shocked by these numbers and could not help but consider the role health disparities had played during the pandemic. One of the most pressing human rights issues of our time is the equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, both in the U.S. and globally. Socially structured distrust in the vaccine is itself a human rights issue and public health has a critical role to play in redressing this patterned harm and achieving the human right to health for all. Since this study was conducted, the Emergency Use Authorization has been granted to three COVID-19 vaccines. Other studies have demonstrated that following this authorization, there has been an increased willingness to be vaccinated among most groups and the gaps by race and ethnicity have closed. Understanding the relative degree of trust in different sources helps to provide accurate information about these vaccines and may improve vaccination uptake. The COVID-19 outbreak was something no one was expecting and escalated quickly. It came with a lot of questions and concerns for the general public, which then carried into the willingness to receive developing COVID-19 vaccines. There are a number of factors that contribute to the rates of vaccine hesitancy, including race and ethnicity. Rates varied widely amongst the different groups that were studied. In this study conducted by the Fall 2020 Epidemiology class of San Jose State University, we were also looking to understand whether differences persist among the social networks of diverse public health college students and to determine whether these students could influence peers’ willingness to receive a vaccine. Overall, about 45% of respondents said they were probably not or definitely not willing to receive the COVID-19 Vaccine. Black, multiracial or other, and Latinx participants were less willing to receive the vaccine compared to all of the other racial/ethnic groups. In fact, 92% of the Black participants, 63% of multiracial participants, and 44% of Latinx participants answered that they probably or definitely would not get the vaccine. This can be seen visually in Figure A. Additionally, the level of trust in family and friends to provide accurate vaccine information was lowest among Black, and Latinx participants compared to all other groups. Looking at this all together, we can see that racial minorities were least likely to be willing to receive the vaccine. These statistics do not reflect more recent vaccine hesitancy rates, as disparities have been diminishing since October 2020, and have actually increased over the past few months.
When we were first developing this question, we expected racial minority participants to have lower rates of willingness to be vaccinated, which turned out to be true. When discussing this prediction, however, we had in mind that this would mostly be due to mistrust of the healthcare system and previous events, such as the Tuskegee experiment. It was really interesting to read “Black People Need Better Vaccine Access, Not Better Vaccine Attitudes” (Boyd, 2021). Dr. Boyd makes a point of highlighting that many people in the Black community are willing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and are eager to protect their health and those around them, but they do not have equal access to COVID-19 related resources. (Boyd, 2021) discusses that professionals are focusing on the wrong thing by assuming that the Black community's vaccine rates are lower due to hesitancy related to events such as the Tuskegee experiment when it really has to do a lot more with what is happening in the modern-day. By doing this, the blame is placed on the Black community rather than addressing the disparities by asking, “What can healthcare organizations do to earn the trust of the Black community?” Racism is taking place every day in the healthcare setting, with Black individuals having higher rates of many diseases and not having their health taken as seriously. They also do not have as easy access to the COVID-19 vaccine. It is mentioned in (Boyd, 2021) as well that many Black individuals do not even think of the Tuskegee experiment when they think of healthcare. It is important to address disparities to help engage more people in utilizing preventative healthcare and simply providing more access to resources, personalized to specific communities. |
Vaccine HesitancyAfter little was known about COVID-19 vaccinations, time has passed and we have collected interesting data surrounding different aspects of vaccine hesitancy. This section will discuss vaccine hesitancy rates, possible influencers, attitudes surrounding being vaccinated, and much more.
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