Addressing racial/ethnic inequities in vaccine hesitancy and uptake: lessons learned from the California alliance against COVID-19

Abstract

Lack of trust in biomedical research, government, and health care systems, especially among racial/ethnic minorities and under-resourced communities, is a longstanding issue rooted in social injustice. The COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted existing health and socioeconomic inequities and increased the urgency for solutions to provide access to timely, culturally, and linguistically appropriate evidence-based information about COVID-19; and ultimately to promote vaccine uptake. California’s statewide alliance STOP COVID-19 CA (comprising eleven sites), leverages long standing community partnerships to better understand concerns, misinformation, and address racial/ethnic inequities in vaccine hesitancy and uptake. Using data from the California CEAL Communication Working Group, we demonstrate the wide range of strategies, communication methods, languages, and trusted messengers that have been effective in reaching diverse communities across the state. We also showcase challenges and lessons learned, such as the importance of including trusted community partners to share information or provide vaccines. These approaches, rooted in community engagement, are crucial for addressing inequities and responding to future public health emergencies.

Adolescent COVID-19 Vaccine Decision-Making among Parents in Southern California

“…With the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine authorized for use in children aged 5 or older in the United States, public health messaging, especially by pediatricians, school administrators, nurses, pharmacists, local community leaders, and public health officials, will continue to be paramount in addressing the educational needs of parents and adolescents to bolster vaccine confidence and the understanding of how vaccines protect and benefit children’s health [ 38 , 47 , 48 ]. Continued parent education about vaccines is needed, including eliciting and addressing questions from parents and adolescents.…”

“…Continued parent education about vaccines is needed, including eliciting and addressing questions from parents and adolescents. Educational opportunities for parents and adolescents may be more accessible, either through schools or local community leaders, to answer parents’ questions as part of trust building [ 45 , 48 , 49 ]. In discussions with families, pediatricians, community, and school clinic workers should walk the tightrope of being transparent about possible rare vaccine side effects such as myocarditis [ 26 ] or anxiety-induced syncope [ 50 ] while allaying parents’ and adolescents’ vaccine concerns.…”

“We left the crop there lying in the field”: Agricultural worker experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic in a rural US-Mexico border region

“…This certainly includes the ‘hyper local’ efforts of the Imperial Valley Equity and Justice Coalition and Salud Sin Fronteras in securing vaccine appointments for agricultural workers in our study area ( Brown, 2021b ). Additionally, it is important that COVID-19 outreach and education activities come from trusted sources and are not simply translated into Spanish (or other languages) but also consider culture, language, and literacy levels ( Ramos et al, 2020 ; AuYoung et al, 2022 ). Recognizing the value of community engagement and true bi-directional partnership is critical to successful public health messaging ( AuYoung et al, 2022 ), and our research emphasizes these points.…”

Identifying Facilitators and Barriers to Increasing COVID-19 Vaccination and Trial Participation in Vaccinated Vietnamese Americans

“…These facilitators of vaccination were also identified in studies focused on AANHPI populations. 9 Participants reported barriers to vaccines such as concerns about vaccine safety, misinformation, and lack of health care access. Language barriers to COVID-19 information found in this study are consistent with previous research on ethnic minorities.…”