New Study: Why Coronavirus vaccines face trust gap in Black and Latino communities

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Tue, 2020-11-24 14:07 — mike kraft

Coronavirus vaccines face trust gap in Black and Latino communities, study finds Other recent studies have also pointed to vaccine hesitancy in communities of color, but Monday’s survey delved deeper into the reasons, polling respondents on a spectrum of questions to get at the roots of their distrust. William Wan Washington Post

If offered a coronavirus vaccine free of charge, fewer than half of Black people and 66 percent of Latino people said they would definitely or probably take it, according to a survey-based study that underscores the challenge of getting vaccines to communities hit hard by the pandemic.

The survey released Monday is one of the largest and most rigorous to date. Other recent studies have also pointed to vaccine hesitancy in communities of color, but Monday’s survey delved deeper into the reasons, polling respondents on a spectrum of questions to get at the roots of their distrust.

Perhaps its most sobering findings: 14 percent of Black people trust that a vaccine will be safe, and 18 percent trust that it will be effective in shielding them from the coronavirus. Among Latinos, 34 percent trust its safety, and 40 percent trust its effectiveness.

The survey was conducted Sept. 1 through 15, before interim analyses were released showing that three experimental vaccines had achieved high levels of protection against the coronavirus and appeared largely safe.

The study’s authors said trust in vaccine safety is especially critical and was found in subsequent questions to be by far the strongest predictor of whether people are willing to take the vaccine.

Vaccinating a large share of the U.S. population will prove pivotal to establishing national immunity to the novel coronavirus and slowing the spread of the pathogen, infectious-disease specialists say. To reach the threshold necessary to establish herd immunity, a majority of Americans will likely need to be vaccinated in coming years.

But even as pharmaceutical companies release encouraging data on three experimental vaccines and officials throughout the country build a complex infrastructure of distribution chains and ultracold freezers, it is becoming increasingly clear the country will face profound challenges in trust and uptake of the vaccine. ...

Also see: Amid coronavirus pandemic, black mistrust of medicine looms

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