COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Uptake among Minority Populations in Tennessee
COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and uptake among Southern states in the US has been problematic throughout the pandemic. To characterize COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and uptake among medically underserved communities in Tennessee. We surveyed 1482 individuals targeting minority communities in Tennessee fro...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Vaccines |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/11/6/1073 |
| _version_ | 1827735419691728896 |
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| author | Donald J. Alcendor Patricia Matthews-Juarez Neely Williams Derek Wilus Mohammad Tabatabai Esarrah Hopkins Kirstyn George Ashley H. Leon Rafael Santiago Arthur Lee Duane Smoot James E. K. Hildreth Paul D. Juarez |
| author_facet | Donald J. Alcendor Patricia Matthews-Juarez Neely Williams Derek Wilus Mohammad Tabatabai Esarrah Hopkins Kirstyn George Ashley H. Leon Rafael Santiago Arthur Lee Duane Smoot James E. K. Hildreth Paul D. Juarez |
| author_sort | Donald J. Alcendor |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and uptake among Southern states in the US has been problematic throughout the pandemic. To characterize COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and uptake among medically underserved communities in Tennessee. We surveyed 1482 individuals targeting minority communities in Tennessee from 2 October 2021 to 22 June 2022. Participants who indicated that they did not plan to receive or were unsure whether to receive the COVID-19 vaccine were considered vaccine-hesitant. Among participants, 79% had been vaccinated, with roughly 5.4% not likely at all to be vaccinated in the next three months from the date that the survey was conducted. When focusing particularly on Black/AA people and white people, our survey results revealed a significant association between race (Black/AA, white, or people of mixed Black/white ancestry) and vaccination status (vaccinated or unvaccinated) (<i>p</i>-value = 0.013). Approximately 79.1% of all participants received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Individuals who were concerned with personal/family/community safety and/or wanted a return to normalcy were less likely to be hesitant. The study found that the major reasons cited for refusing the COVID-19 vaccines were distrust in vaccine safety, concerns about side effects, fear of needles, and vaccine efficacy. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:50:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0dc4fe5b72e44ae7befc04a92252ec04 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-393X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:50:40Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Vaccines |
| spelling | doaj.art-0dc4fe5b72e44ae7befc04a92252ec042023-11-18T12:58:52ZengMDPI AGVaccines2076-393X2023-06-01116107310.3390/vaccines11061073COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Uptake among Minority Populations in TennesseeDonald J. Alcendor0Patricia Matthews-Juarez1Neely Williams2Derek Wilus3Mohammad Tabatabai4Esarrah Hopkins5Kirstyn George6Ashley H. Leon7Rafael Santiago8Arthur Lee9Duane Smoot10James E. K. Hildreth11Paul D. Juarez12Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Physiology, School of Medicine, Meharry Medical College, 1005 Dr. D.B. Todd Jr. Blvd., Hubbard Hospital, 5th Floor, Rm. 5025, Nashville, TN 37208, USADepartment of Family & Community Medicine, Meharry Medical College, 1005 D.B. Todd Jr. Blvd., Nashville, TN 37208, USACommunity Partners’ Network, Nashville, TN 37208, USASchool of Graduate Studies, Meharry Medical College, 1005 D.B. Todd Jr. Blvd., Nashville, TN 37208, USASchool of Graduate Studies, Meharry Medical College, 1005 D.B. Todd Jr. Blvd., Nashville, TN 37208, USADivision of Public Health, Meharry Medical College, 1005 D.B. Todd Jr. Blvd., Nashville, TN 37208, USADivision of Public Health, Meharry Medical College, 1005 D.B. Todd Jr. Blvd., Nashville, TN 37208, USADivision of Public Health, Meharry Medical College, 1005 D.B. Todd Jr. Blvd., Nashville, TN 37208, USADepartment of Family & Community Medicine, Meharry Medical College, 1005 D.B. Todd Jr. Blvd., Nashville, TN 37208, USACommunity Partners’ Network, Nashville, TN 37208, USADepartment of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Meharry Medical College, 1005 D.B. Todd Jr. Blvd., Nashville, TN 37208, USACenter for AIDS Health Disparities Research, Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Physiology, School of Medicine, Meharry Medical College, 1005 Dr. D.B. Todd Jr. Blvd., Nashville, TN 37208, USADepartment of Family & Community Medicine, Meharry Medical College, 1005 D.B. Todd Jr. Blvd., Nashville, TN 37208, USACOVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and uptake among Southern states in the US has been problematic throughout the pandemic. To characterize COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and uptake among medically underserved communities in Tennessee. We surveyed 1482 individuals targeting minority communities in Tennessee from 2 October 2021 to 22 June 2022. Participants who indicated that they did not plan to receive or were unsure whether to receive the COVID-19 vaccine were considered vaccine-hesitant. Among participants, 79% had been vaccinated, with roughly 5.4% not likely at all to be vaccinated in the next three months from the date that the survey was conducted. When focusing particularly on Black/AA people and white people, our survey results revealed a significant association between race (Black/AA, white, or people of mixed Black/white ancestry) and vaccination status (vaccinated or unvaccinated) (<i>p</i>-value = 0.013). Approximately 79.1% of all participants received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Individuals who were concerned with personal/family/community safety and/or wanted a return to normalcy were less likely to be hesitant. The study found that the major reasons cited for refusing the COVID-19 vaccines were distrust in vaccine safety, concerns about side effects, fear of needles, and vaccine efficacy.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/11/6/1073COVID-19vaccinationsTennesseevaccine hesitancyminoritiesvaccine uptake |
| spellingShingle | Donald J. Alcendor Patricia Matthews-Juarez Neely Williams Derek Wilus Mohammad Tabatabai Esarrah Hopkins Kirstyn George Ashley H. Leon Rafael Santiago Arthur Lee Duane Smoot James E. K. Hildreth Paul D. Juarez COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Uptake among Minority Populations in Tennessee Vaccines COVID-19 vaccinations Tennessee vaccine hesitancy minorities vaccine uptake |
| title | COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Uptake among Minority Populations in Tennessee |
| title_full | COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Uptake among Minority Populations in Tennessee |
| title_fullStr | COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Uptake among Minority Populations in Tennessee |
| title_full_unstemmed | COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Uptake among Minority Populations in Tennessee |
| title_short | COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Uptake among Minority Populations in Tennessee |
| title_sort | covid 19 vaccine hesitancy and uptake among minority populations in tennessee |
| topic | COVID-19 vaccinations Tennessee vaccine hesitancy minorities vaccine uptake |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/11/6/1073 |
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