Perceptions and Motivating Factors Regarding COVID-19 Vaccination in Latinx Older Adults in Chicago: A Local, Qualitative Perspective

PURPOSE: Historically marginalized communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic are demonstrating lower uptake of COVID-19 vaccines. To facilitate the development of culturally tailored, language concordant educational materials promoting COVID-19 vaccination, we first explored older Latinx adults’ awareness, attitudes, and beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines and factors involved in vaccination decisions within their communities. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 participants who self-identified as Latinx/Hispanic, aged 50 and older, and living in Chicago. Eight interviews were conducted in English and seven in Spanish. Thematic analysis was used to analyze participants’ responses. RESULTS: Participants revealed four key factors influencing vaccination decisions: 1. protecting oneself and loved ones (against COVID-19 (n=14), or from perceived dangers of the vaccine (n=9)); 2. trust in authorities (trusting information (n=9), or worrying the vaccine is being manipulated (n=5)); 3. access and availability (gratitude to live in a country where vaccines are available (n=5), or fear of going to vaccination sites due to immigration and insurance status (n=4)); and 4. Employment and semblance of normalcy (vaccination to create opportunities (n=6), or concern about missing out due to side effects (n=9)). CONCLUSION: Our findings illuminate key factors influencing decisions for COVID-19 vaccination among Latinx older adults in Chicago. Vaccination information aiming to increase vaccination rates among this important population may benefit from leveraging collective pronouns and spirituality, language concordance, low-tech options, building trust, and addressing insurance and immigration doubts. Next steps include developing educational materials based on these themes, followed by dissemination and evaluation. Lessons learned may be of interest to public health experts responding to the ongoing pandemic and other public health crises experienced by historically marginalized communities.