No abstract

Background and Objective: Vaccine hesitancy may be one of the greatest challenges to conquering the COVID-19 pandemic. Underserved communities across the U.S. have been suffering from the pandemic in unique ways, and vaccine hesitancy may exacerbate or prolong these issues. However, the prevalence of vaccine uptake and hesitancy in these vulnerable populations is unknown. The present study aimed to investigate: (1) prevalence of COVID vaccine uptake and COVID vaccine hesitancy in Delaware's underserved communities; (2) factors (i.e., demographic, socioeconomic characteristics, as well as COVID-related behaviors) associated with vaccine hesitancy; and (3) specific concerns about COVID vaccines. Materials and Methods: Data were extracted from a survey conducted in Delaware's underserved communities from March 4, 2021 to May 25, 2021. Logistic regression analyses were used to assess factors associated with vaccine hesitancy. Results: Results from our survey indicated that vaccine uptake is lower in Delaware's underserved communities than Delaware overall and the national average. In addition, a considerable proportion of participants were categorized as vaccine hesitant. We also found that being black increased the likelihood of vaccine hesitancy for the COVID-19 vaccine, which is consistent with prior studies on vaccine hesitancy. Results also indicated that having been tested for COVID in the past decreased the odds of vaccine hesitancy. However, we did not find that demographic or socioeconomic characteristics played a role in vaccine hesitancy in Delaware's underserved communities. Conclusion and Relevance: Our study represents a critial first step in understanding the determinants driving COVID vaccine uptake and hesitancy. Identifying key factors and causes for vaccine hesitancy may help in establishing novel strategies that counteract low vaccination rates in underserved communities.

Being nonwhite, Asian Americans are an important case in understanding racial/ethnic inequality. Prior research has focused on native-born workers to reduce unobserved heterogeneity associated with immigrants. Native-born Asian American adults are concentrated, however, in areas with a high cost of living where wages tend to be higher. Regional location is thus said to inflate the wages of Asians. Given that many labor markets are national in scope with regional migration being common, current place of residence is unlikely to be a fully exogenous independent variable. We use two-stage least squares to estimate wage regression models in which the cost of living is endogenous because people with higher wages can afford to live in more expensive areas. The results fail to reject the hypothesis of no racial discrimination. Native-born Asian Americans seem to have overcome the disadvantage of being nonwhite in the labor market at least in regard to wages.

We use the U.S. General Social Survey to investigate the overall life satisfaction of Asian Americans. In contrast to most other racial minority groups in the U.S., Asian Americans are advantaged over whites in regard to education and incomes which are known to be correlated with overall life satisfaction. Despite these socioeconomic advantages, Asian Americans express somewhat lower levels of overall life satisfaction than whites. Foreign-born Asian Americans are more likely than whites to be "not too happy" while native-born Asian Americans are less likely than whites to be "very happy." This pattern persists even after controlling for educational attainment and the distribution of household income. The implications of these findings are discussed in regard to the social psychology, assimilation, and demographic characteristics of Asian Americans. Asian Americans are often portrayed as the "Model Minority," but they appear to be somewhat less happy with what they have.

doi: medRxiv preprint NOTE: This preprint reports new research that has not been certified by peer review and should not be used to guide clinical practice.