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strongly recommended the use of brief, narrative vaccination testimonials from local officials, community members, and faith leaders to increase trust in science, vaccine confidence and to promote uptake. BackgroundAcross the United States (U.S.), the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has amplified the social and health inequities with disproportionate burdens of prevalence, hospitalizations, and deaths among racial/ethnic minority populations (Gross et al., 2020;Ravi, 2020;Stokes et al., 2020;Webb et al., 2020). These disparities are due to social determinants of health such as having a lack of access to both medical care and to culturally appropriate health information (Kim et al., 2020;Millett et al., 2020;Thakur et al., 2020;Wadhera et al., 2020). To date, all Americans are encouraged to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and booster in order to prevent serious illness, hospitalizations, and death from the virus and its variants (CDC, 2021). However, general mistrust of vaccine benefits and related side effects can be barriers to achieving population immunity through vaccination, particularly among racial/ethnic minority groups (Paul et al., 2021). Vaccination hesitancy and refusal are often shaped by multi-level factors including religious and political beliefs at the individual level, a lack of effective communication and engagement strategies at the community level, and social inequities, including access, at the structural level (Dutta et al., 2021;Omer et al., 2021). Additionally, individuals who have experienced discrimination and racism Abstract The state of Arizona has experienced one of the highest novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) positivity test rates in the United States with disproportionally higher case rates and deaths among African-American/ Black (AA/B), American Indian/Alaska Native (Native), and Hispanic/Latinx (HLX) individuals. To reduce disparities and promote health equity, researchers from Arizona State University, Mayo Clinic in Arizona, Northern Arizona University, and the University of Arizona formed a partnership with community organizations to conduct state-wide community-engaged research and outreach. This report describes results from 34 virtually-held focus groups and supplemental survey responses conducted with 153 AA/B, HLX, and Native community members across Arizona to understand factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and confidence. Focus groups revealed common themes of vaccine hesitancy stemming from past experiences of research abuses (e.g., Tuskegee syphilis experiment) as well as group-specific factors. Across all focus groups, participants

Background Telomere length (TL) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from fresh venous blood is increasingly used to estimate molecular impacts of accumulated social adversity on population health. Sometimes, TL extracted from saliva or dried blood spots (DBS) are substituted as less invasive and more scalable specimen collection methods; yet, are they interchangeable with fresh blood? Studies find TL is correlated across tissues, but have not addressed the critical question for social epidemiological applications: Do different specimen types show the same association between TL and social constructs? Methods We integrate expertise in social epidemiology, molecular biology, and the statistical impact of measurement error on parameter estimates. Recruiting a diverse sample of 132 Metro-Detroit women, we measure TL for each woman from fresh blood PBMC, DBS, and saliva. Using regression methods, we estimate associations between social characteristics and TL, comparing estimates across specimen types for each woman. Results Associations between TL and social characteristics vary by specimen type collected from the same woman, sometimes qualitatively altering estimates of the magnitude or direction of a theorized relationship. Being Black is associated with shorter TL in PBMC, but longer TL in saliva or DBS. Education is positively associated with TL in fresh blood, but negatively associated with TL using DBS. Conclusion Findings raise concerns about the use of TL measures derived from different tissues in social epidemiological research. Investigators need to consider the possibility that associations between social variables and TL may be systematically related to specimen type, rather than be valid indicators of socially-patterned biopsychosocial processes.

The COVID-19 pandemic has both highlighted and worsened existing health inequities among communities of color and structurally vulnerable populations. Community Health Workers, inclusive of Community Health Representatives (CHW/Rs) have entered the spotlight as essential to COVID-19 prevention and control. To learn about community experiences and perspectives related to COVID-19 and inform CHW/R workforce capacity building efforts, a series of focus groups were conducted with CHW/Rs throughout Arizona at two time points in 2021. Throughout the data collection and analysis process, researchers and community partners engaged in ongoing and open dialogue about what CHW/Rs on the ground were reporting as priority community concerns, needs, and challenges. Thus, CHW/Rs informed the development of culturally and linguistically relevant health education messages, materials, and training for CHW/Rs. In this community case study, we detail the efforts of partnership between a statewide CHW professional association and an academic research team that facilitated rapid decision-making and knowledge sharing to create community-grounded tools and resources supportive of CHW/R workforce capacity building in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.