‘Getting control of Corona takes many angles’: COVID-19 vaccine knowledge, attitudes and beliefs among refugee/immigrant/migrant communities in four US cities

Abstract

The objectives of the study were to (i) document refugee, immigrant and migrant (RIM) communities’ knowledge, attitudes and beliefs (KABs) related to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine and (ii) identify best practices for developing and disseminating culturally and linguistically responsive health messaging addressing those KABs. Thirteen online focus groups (OFGs) in 10 languages were conducted. Each OFG was conducted in the participants’ native language. OFGs were recorded, transcribed, translated and uploaded to qualitative software for coding. A thematic analysis was conducted. Results suggest that while there was some variation between different language groups (e.g. whether religious leaders were seen as trusted sources of information about COVID), there were also important commonalities. Most language groups (i) alluded to hearing about or having gaps in knowledge about COVID-19/the COVID-19 vaccine, (ii) reported hearing negative or conflicting stories about the vaccine and (iii) shared concerns about the negative side effects of the vaccine. There continues to be a need for health messaging in RIM communities that is culturally and linguistically concordant and follows health literacy guidelines. Message content about the COVID-19 vaccine should focus on vaccine importance, effectiveness and safety, should be multimodal and should be primarily delivered by healthcare professionals and community members who have already been vaccinated.