How education and racial segregation intersect in neighborhoods with persistently low COVID-19 vaccination rates in Philadelphia

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 infection has disproportionately affected socially disadvantaged neighborhoods. Despite this disproportionate burden of infection, these neighborhoods have also lagged in COVID-19 vaccinations. To date, we have little understanding of the ways that various types of social conditions intersect to explain the complex causes of lower COVID-19 vaccination rates in neighborhoods. METHODS: We used configurational comparative methods (CCMs) to study COVID-19 vaccination rates in Philadelphia by neighborhood (proxied by zip code tabulation areas). Specifically, we identified neighborhoods where COVID-19 vaccination rates (per 10,000) were persistently low from March 2021 – May 2021. We then assessed how different combinations of social conditions (pathways) uniquely distinguished neighborhoods with persistently low vaccination rates from the other neighborhoods in the city. Social conditions included measures of economic inequities, racial segregation, education, overcrowding, service employment, public transit use, health insurance and limited English proficiency. RESULTS: Two factors consistently distinguished neighborhoods with persistently low COVID-19 vaccination rates from the others: college education and concentrated racial privilege. Two factor values together – low college education AND low/medium concentrated racial privilege – identified persistently low COVID-19 vaccination rates in neighborhoods, with high consistency (0.92) and high coverage (0.86). Different values for education and concentrated racial privilege – medium/high college education OR high concentrated racial privilege – were each sufficient by themselves to explain neighborhoods where COVID-19 vaccination rates were not persistently low, likewise with high consistency (0.93) and high coverage (0.97). CONCLUSIONS: Pairing CCMs with geospatial mapping can help identify complex relationships between social conditions linked to low COVID-19 vaccination rates. Understanding how neighborhood conditions combine to create inequities in communities could inform the design of interventions tailored to address COVID-19 vaccination disparities. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-022-13414-3.