Black and Latinx Community Perspectives on COVID-19 Mitigation Behaviors, Testing, and Vaccines

Abstract

IMPORTANCE Black and Latinx communities have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, yet little work has sought to understand their perspectives.OBJECTIVE To explore the experiences of Black and Latinx communities during the pandemic to better understand their perspectives on COVID-19 mitigation behaviors (eg, mask wearing), testing, and vaccines. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTSIn this community-engaged qualitative study conducted with 18 community-based organizations and 4 health care organizations between November 19, 2020, and February 5, 2021, in New Jersey counties severely affected by the pandemic, group and individual interviews were used to purposively sample 111 Black and Latinx individuals. A total of 13 group interviews were organized by race/ethnicity and language: 4 English-speaking groups with Black participants (n = 34), 3 Spanish-speaking groups with Latinx participants (n = 24), and 4 English-speaking groups with Black and Latinx participants (n = 36). To understand the views of health care workers from these communities, 2 additional groups (n = 9) were convened and supplemented with individual interviews. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Description of Black and Latinx participants' experiencesduring the COVID-19 pandemic and their perspectives on mitigation behaviors, testing, and vaccines. RESULTSThe study included 111 participants (87 women [78.4%]; median age, 43 years [range, 18-93 years]). Participants described the devastating effects of the pandemic on themselves, loved ones, and their community. Their experiences were marked by fear, illness, loss, and separation. These experiences motivated intense information seeking, mitigation behaviors, and testing. Nevertheless, vaccine skepticism was high across all groups. Participants did not trust the vaccine development process and wanted clearer information. Black participants expressed that they did not want to be subjects of experiments. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCEThe remaining unknowns about new vaccines need to be acknowledged and described for Black and Latinx communities to make informed decisions.Ultimately, scientists and public officials need to work transparently to address unanswered questions and work collaboratively with trusted community leaders and health professionals to foster partnered approaches, rather than focusing on marketing campaigns, to eliminate vaccine skepticism.

Time trends, factors associated with, and reasons for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: A massive online survey of US adults from January-May 2021

“…Racial/ethnic disparities have been observed in all aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic [ 30 ], with communities of color experiencing higher rates of SARS-CoV-2 infection, as well as COVID-19-related hospitalizations and mortality [ 31 , 32 ]. Racial/ethnic disparities in COVID-19 vaccine acceptance at the start of the vaccine rollout threatened to continue this trend [ 33 ], with unclear/unreliable information on COVID-19 vaccines, concerns about research ethics, and access barriers contributing to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy [ 34 ]. In response, groups from at-risk communities initiated targeted outreach campaigns [ 35 ].…”

An Assessment of Veterans Attitudes and Willingness to Receiving the COVID-19 Vaccine: A Mixed Methods Study

“…Several qualitative studies involving black communities found participants expressed concerns about the speed of vaccine development, vaccine safety, and mistrusted government and healthcare initiatives. [25][26][27] A qualitative study that interviewed Veterans and VA staff in three VA medical centers after COVID-19 vaccines became available found several similar concerns to those we report including mistrust of government, though half of the interviewees had received at least one COVID-19 vaccine. 28 Our study had several strengths, including the supplementation of survey data with data from the medical record, mixed quantitative-qualitative methods, in-depth interviews of a subset of respondents and a patient population that is largely African American.…”

An assessment of Veterans attitudes and willingness to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine: a mixed methods study

“…In addition, our findings are consistent with qualitative studies conducted prior to the availability of vaccines. Several qualitative studies involving black communities found participants expressed concerns about the speed of vaccine development, vaccine safety, and mistrusted government and healthcare initiatives [ 27 – 29 ]. A qualitative study that interviewed Veterans and VA staff in three VA medical centers after COVID-19 vaccines became available found several similar concerns to those we report including mistrust of government, though half of the interviewees had received at least one COVID-19 vaccine [ 30 ]..…”