COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Uptake among Minority Populations in Tennessee

Abstract

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) (p-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.

Ending of the COVID-19 Related Public and National Health Emergency Declarations: Implications for Medically Underserved Populations in Tennessee

“…Therefore, ending the PHE and NHE government services would more greatly impact the health status of residents of rural Tennessee (44). We have also previously reported higher COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and lower COVID-19 vaccine uptake among populations residing in rural counties compared to urban counties in Tennessee [ 45 , 46 ].…”