Household Density and Influences from Family and Friends Shape Vaccine Intent Among Latino Families in the San Francisco Bay Area

Abstract

Background: Latino have had higher case counts, hospitalization rates and deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic nationally and in the state of California. Meanwhile, Latino vaccination rates remain lower than those of non-Hispanic Whites. COVID-19 vaccine nonintent, defined as intent not to vaccinate for COVID-19, among Latino individuals continues to be an issue in the state of California. Methods: Families from three Latino longitudinal mother child cohorts previously recruited in the San Francisco Bay Area were surveyed telephonically from February to July 2021 to assess attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination and prior vaccination, in general, for themselves and their children. Risk for vaccine nonintent was assessed using Mann-Whitney rank sum non-parametric test for continuous predictors and chi-squared tests for categorical ones. Results: Three hundred and eighteen families were surveyed from the Telomere at Birth (TAB), Hispanic Eating and Nutrition (HEN) and Latino Eating and Diabetes Cohort (LEAD). Approximately 36% from TAB and 28% from HEN/LEAD indicated COVID-19 vaccine nonintent for themselves and/or their children. Risk factors for vaccine nonintent included lower maternal age (p=0.01), concern about vaccine side effects (p<0.01) and prior history of a household members being infected with COVID-19 (p<0.01) and indexes of household crowding including number of people sharing a bathroom (p=0.048). Vaccine intent was also associated with receiving vaccine input from friends (p=0.03), family (p<0.01) and/or coworkers (p=0.02) compared with those who were not planning on getting COVID-19 vaccination. It is possible that those with non-intent have received limited input from families, friends and/or coworkers. Discussion: Latino families living in crowded living situations who may not have received any COVID-19 advice family, coworkers or friends are at particular risk for COVID-19 vaccine nonintent. Community based grassroots interventions that focus on trusted individuals with close ties to the community counseling about COVID-19 vaccination could help to boost vaccination rates in this population group.