Cargando…

Exploring Motivations for COVID-19 Vaccination Among Black Young Adults in 3 Southern US States: Cross-sectional Study

BACKGROUND: Few studies have focused on attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination among Black or African American young adults (BYA) in the Southern United States, despite high levels of infection in this population. OBJECTIVE: To understand this gap, we conducted an online survey to explore beliefs and...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Stoner, Marie CD, Browne, Erica N, Tweedy, David, Pettifor, Audrey E, Maragh-Bass, Allysha C, Toval, Christina, Tolley, Elizabeth E, Comello, Maria Leonora G, Muessig, Kathryn E, Budhwani, Henna, Hightow-Weidman, Lisa B
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: JMIR Publications 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9446666/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35969516
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/39144
_version_ 1784783692557713408
author Stoner, Marie CD
Browne, Erica N
Tweedy, David
Pettifor, Audrey E
Maragh-Bass, Allysha C
Toval, Christina
Tolley, Elizabeth E
Comello, Maria Leonora G
Muessig, Kathryn E
Budhwani, Henna
Hightow-Weidman, Lisa B
author_facet Stoner, Marie CD
Browne, Erica N
Tweedy, David
Pettifor, Audrey E
Maragh-Bass, Allysha C
Toval, Christina
Tolley, Elizabeth E
Comello, Maria Leonora G
Muessig, Kathryn E
Budhwani, Henna
Hightow-Weidman, Lisa B
author_sort Stoner, Marie CD
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Few studies have focused on attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination among Black or African American young adults (BYA) in the Southern United States, despite high levels of infection in this population. OBJECTIVE: To understand this gap, we conducted an online survey to explore beliefs and experiences related to COVID-19 vaccination among BYA (aged 18-29 years) in 3 southern states. METHODS: We recruited 150 BYA to participate in an online survey as formative research for an intervention to address vaccine hesitancy in Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina from September 22, 2021, to November 18, 2021. Participants were recruited through social media ads on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Additionally, we distributed information about the survey through organizations working with BYA in Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina; our community partners; and network collaborations. We used measures that had been used and were previously validated in prior surveys, adapting them to the context of this study. RESULTS: Roughly 28 (19%) of the participants had not received any doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Half of the unvaccinated respondents (n=14, 50%) reported they wanted to wait longer before getting vaccinated. Motivators to get vaccinated were similar between unvaccinated and vaccinated respondents (eg, if required, to protect the health of others), but the main motivator for those vaccinated was to protect one’s own health. Among unvaccinated individuals, reasons for not receiving the COVID-19 vaccine included concern about vaccine side effects (n=15, 54%) and mistrust of vaccine safety (n=13, 46%), of effectiveness (n=12, 43%), and of the government’s involvement with vaccines (n=12, 43%). Experiences of discrimination (n=60, 40%) and mistrust of vaccines (n=54, 36%) were common overall. Among all respondents, those who said they would be motivated to get vaccinated if it was required for school, work, or travel were more likely to endorse negative beliefs about vaccines compared to those motivated for other reasons. CONCLUSIONS: Mistrust in COVID-19 vaccine safety and efficacy is common among BYA in the Southern United States, irrespective of vaccination status. Other motivators, such as safety of family and community and vaccination requirements, may be able to tip the scales toward a decision to be vaccinated among those who are initially hesitant. However, it is unclear how vaccine requirements among BYA in the South affect trust in the government or health care in the long term. Interventions that include BYA in vaccination messaging and programs may more proactively build feelings of trust and combat misinformation.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9446666
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher JMIR Publications
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-94466662022-09-07 Exploring Motivations for COVID-19 Vaccination Among Black Young Adults in 3 Southern US States: Cross-sectional Study Stoner, Marie CD Browne, Erica N Tweedy, David Pettifor, Audrey E Maragh-Bass, Allysha C Toval, Christina Tolley, Elizabeth E Comello, Maria Leonora G Muessig, Kathryn E Budhwani, Henna Hightow-Weidman, Lisa B JMIR Form Res Original Paper BACKGROUND: Few studies have focused on attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination among Black or African American young adults (BYA) in the Southern United States, despite high levels of infection in this population. OBJECTIVE: To understand this gap, we conducted an online survey to explore beliefs and experiences related to COVID-19 vaccination among BYA (aged 18-29 years) in 3 southern states. METHODS: We recruited 150 BYA to participate in an online survey as formative research for an intervention to address vaccine hesitancy in Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina from September 22, 2021, to November 18, 2021. Participants were recruited through social media ads on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Additionally, we distributed information about the survey through organizations working with BYA in Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina; our community partners; and network collaborations. We used measures that had been used and were previously validated in prior surveys, adapting them to the context of this study. RESULTS: Roughly 28 (19%) of the participants had not received any doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Half of the unvaccinated respondents (n=14, 50%) reported they wanted to wait longer before getting vaccinated. Motivators to get vaccinated were similar between unvaccinated and vaccinated respondents (eg, if required, to protect the health of others), but the main motivator for those vaccinated was to protect one’s own health. Among unvaccinated individuals, reasons for not receiving the COVID-19 vaccine included concern about vaccine side effects (n=15, 54%) and mistrust of vaccine safety (n=13, 46%), of effectiveness (n=12, 43%), and of the government’s involvement with vaccines (n=12, 43%). Experiences of discrimination (n=60, 40%) and mistrust of vaccines (n=54, 36%) were common overall. Among all respondents, those who said they would be motivated to get vaccinated if it was required for school, work, or travel were more likely to endorse negative beliefs about vaccines compared to those motivated for other reasons. CONCLUSIONS: Mistrust in COVID-19 vaccine safety and efficacy is common among BYA in the Southern United States, irrespective of vaccination status. Other motivators, such as safety of family and community and vaccination requirements, may be able to tip the scales toward a decision to be vaccinated among those who are initially hesitant. However, it is unclear how vaccine requirements among BYA in the South affect trust in the government or health care in the long term. Interventions that include BYA in vaccination messaging and programs may more proactively build feelings of trust and combat misinformation. JMIR Publications 2022-09-02 /pmc/articles/PMC9446666/ /pubmed/35969516 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/39144 Text en ©Marie CD Stoner, Erica N Browne, David Tweedy, Audrey E Pettifor, Allysha C Maragh-Bass, Christina Toval, Elizabeth E Tolley, Maria Leonora G Comello, Kathryn E Muessig, Henna Budhwani, Lisa B Hightow-Weidman. Originally published in JMIR Formative Research (https://formative.jmir.org), 02.09.2022. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Formative Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on https://formative.jmir.org, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
spellingShingle Original Paper
Stoner, Marie CD
Browne, Erica N
Tweedy, David
Pettifor, Audrey E
Maragh-Bass, Allysha C
Toval, Christina
Tolley, Elizabeth E
Comello, Maria Leonora G
Muessig, Kathryn E
Budhwani, Henna
Hightow-Weidman, Lisa B
Exploring Motivations for COVID-19 Vaccination Among Black Young Adults in 3 Southern US States: Cross-sectional Study
title Exploring Motivations for COVID-19 Vaccination Among Black Young Adults in 3 Southern US States: Cross-sectional Study
title_full Exploring Motivations for COVID-19 Vaccination Among Black Young Adults in 3 Southern US States: Cross-sectional Study
title_fullStr Exploring Motivations for COVID-19 Vaccination Among Black Young Adults in 3 Southern US States: Cross-sectional Study
title_full_unstemmed Exploring Motivations for COVID-19 Vaccination Among Black Young Adults in 3 Southern US States: Cross-sectional Study
title_short Exploring Motivations for COVID-19 Vaccination Among Black Young Adults in 3 Southern US States: Cross-sectional Study
title_sort exploring motivations for covid-19 vaccination among black young adults in 3 southern us states: cross-sectional study
topic Original Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9446666/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35969516
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/39144
work_keys_str_mv AT stonermariecd exploringmotivationsforcovid19vaccinationamongblackyoungadultsin3southernusstatescrosssectionalstudy
AT browneerican exploringmotivationsforcovid19vaccinationamongblackyoungadultsin3southernusstatescrosssectionalstudy
AT tweedydavid exploringmotivationsforcovid19vaccinationamongblackyoungadultsin3southernusstatescrosssectionalstudy
AT pettiforaudreye exploringmotivationsforcovid19vaccinationamongblackyoungadultsin3southernusstatescrosssectionalstudy
AT maraghbassallyshac exploringmotivationsforcovid19vaccinationamongblackyoungadultsin3southernusstatescrosssectionalstudy
AT tovalchristina exploringmotivationsforcovid19vaccinationamongblackyoungadultsin3southernusstatescrosssectionalstudy
AT tolleyelizabethe exploringmotivationsforcovid19vaccinationamongblackyoungadultsin3southernusstatescrosssectionalstudy
AT comellomarialeonorag exploringmotivationsforcovid19vaccinationamongblackyoungadultsin3southernusstatescrosssectionalstudy
AT muessigkathryne exploringmotivationsforcovid19vaccinationamongblackyoungadultsin3southernusstatescrosssectionalstudy
AT budhwanihenna exploringmotivationsforcovid19vaccinationamongblackyoungadultsin3southernusstatescrosssectionalstudy
AT hightowweidmanlisab exploringmotivationsforcovid19vaccinationamongblackyoungadultsin3southernusstatescrosssectionalstudy