Black Americans Receiving the COVID-19 Vaccine and Effective Strategies to Overcome Barriers: An Integrative Literature Review

BACKGROUND: Black Americans have a greater likelihood of serious morbidity or mortality from contracting the coronavirus and represent the lowest percentage of vaccinated individuals by race. This integrative literature review aims to identify the major barriers to Black Americans receiving the COVID-19 vaccine and proposed solutions to improve vaccination rates among this population. METHOD: Databases CINAHL and LitCovid from the National Library of Medicine were utilized to find the articles included in this review. RESULTS: A total of seven articles were identified indicating five barriers preventing Black Americans from being vaccinated against COVID-19 that included (1) mistrust of the medical establishment, (2) uncertainty in vaccine safety, (3) limited access to healthcare, (4) inequitable access to resources, and (5) lower health literacy. The studies also indicated five strategies to increase the desire of Black Americans to be vaccinated including (1) utilizing trusted community leaders, (2) acknowledgment of the history of discrimination and trauma, (3) building more representative clinical trial cohorts, (4) continual investment into community-based organizations, and (5) mobile vaccine clinics. CONCLUSION: The medical establishment in the USA has significant work to do to gain the trust of Black Americans. Many of the strategies to increase vaccine uptake among Black Americans have yet to be implemented which limits the conclusions that can be drawn from them. A future study should examine the outcomes of these proposed solutions to see if they do indeed work as intended and increase vaccination rates among this population.