COVID-19: What Black Americans, Women and Conservatives Have in Common

COVID Group People

A survey of about 5,000 Americans indicates that 31.1% do not plan to get the COVID-19 vaccine when available. Refusal is most common among Black Americans, women, and conservatives.

Black Americans, women, conservatives more hesitant to trust COVID-19 vaccine.

Thirty-one percent of respondents to a Texas A&M-led survey said they don’t intend to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

A survey of approximately 5,000 Americans suggests that 31.1 percent of the U.S. public does not intend to get the COVID-19 vaccine once it becomes available to them – and the likelihood of vaccine refusal is highest among Black Americans, women, and conservatives.

Timothy Callaghan, assistant professor at the Texas A&M University School of Public Health, led the study with the aim of better understanding the intentions of the American public regarding vaccines. The results were recently published in Social Science and Medicine.

According to the study, survey respondents answered a series of questions about their behaviors and attitudes about COVID-19, including why or why not they intend to pursue vaccination. Women are 71 percent more likely to not to pursue vaccination, researchers found, followed by Blacks at 41 percent.

Survey results also showed that politics play a role: each one-point increase in conservatism increases the odds of vaccine refusal by 18 percent. Those who said they intended to vote for President Donald Trump in the presidential election – the survey was conducted in mid-2020 – were 29 percent more likely to refuse vaccination.

The study revealed two top reasons for vaccine refusal: concerns about safety and effectiveness. However, reasons for vaccine reluctance varied across sub-populations.

For instance, women who were surveyed said they are hesitant based on safety concerns and effectiveness, while surveyed Black Americans said their hesitancy stems from similar concerns plus a lack of financial resources or health insurance.

For conservatives, Callaghan points to previous studies that have shown these people are generally less trusting of vaccines, as well as medical and scientific professionals.

The finding that most surprised Callaghan is that Black individuals, who are being infected with COVID-19 and dying at higher rates, are less likely to vaccinate because of a combination of concerns, including those related to safety and affordability.

“This points to the need for the medical community and policymakers to find ways to both build trust in the vaccine in the African American community and to ensure that it is delivered affordably,” Callaghan said.

The authors of the study also state that anti-vaccine advocacy groups “have made a concerted effort” to target Black Americans, writing that if they are successful in framing COVID-19 vaccination in terms of past medical abuses against minority groups, it could decrease the likelihood that racial minorities will pursue COVID-19 vaccination, particularly in light of recent findings emphasizing the implications of peripheral trauma.”

Now that COVID-19 vaccine-hesitant populations have been identified, Callaghan plans to explore what kind of health interventions and health promotion efforts are most effective in promoting the vaccine to these populations. Additionally, he said it is important to explore the similarities and differences between populations that are generally vaccine hesitant and populations that are hesitant specifically toward the COVID-19 vaccine.

Reference: “Correlates and disparities of intention to vaccinate against COVID-19” by Timothy Callaghan, Ali Moghtaderi, Jennifer A. Lueck, Peter Hotez, Ulrich Strych, Avi Dor, Erika Franklin Fowler and Matthew Motta, 4 January 2021, Social Science & Medicine.
DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113638

Funding: Texas A&M Triads for Transformation grant.

2 Comments on "COVID-19: What Black Americans, Women and Conservatives Have in Common"

  1. Their reasons might be genuine from my own point of view, using blacks as a case study for testing vaccines is inappropriate and these should be looked into.. This has been the case for a while in my country until most issues were resolved by NCDC https://nairapastquestions.com/recruitment-past-question/ncdc, here all questions concerning covid-19 was answered and resolved same with any kind of questions concerning job interview of any kind can be found there…

  2. I don’t understand the need so many people have to categorize, differentiate and pigeonhole people into specific, narrow, restrictive groups. Why is it so difficult to accept that a Black woman can also be a conservative? You cannot predict what an individual will do or what they believe based on their gender or the color of their skin. I don’t think these kinds of “surveys” promote the common good or bring people together.

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