Age influences the reluctance of the Covid-19 vaccine among black Americans

The age of the interviewees played the biggest factor in their willingness to be vaccinated. Those aged 65 and over would likely indicate that they would receive the vaccine, with 63% of black respondents and 65% of Hispanics saying they would ‘definitely’ be vaccinated, below three-quarters of white respondents.

In general, more black adults are willing to be inoculated, compared to the results of previous weeks. In the latest poll, 70% of black adults who did not receive the vaccine said they would definitely or likely receive it, an increase of 7 percentage points since the survey conducted the week of 6 January.

Black, Hispanic and Native American populations are dying from Covid-19 at almost three times the rate of white Americans. These deaths are lower among minorities, according to an analysis by the Wall Street Journal of death certificate data collected by federal authorities. Public health experts say they expect minorities to be particularly affected, including at younger ages, because of risk factors, including unequal access to care, as well as possible employment in low-paying jobs that require work outside the home.

Minority and underserved communities have populations that traditionally do not trust medical treatment and the government and, in general, have less access to resources such as easy transportation to vaccination centers or the digital technology needed to make appointments. Survey respondents under the age of 40 were the most likely to list a concern about side effects as the reason for their reluctance to receive the vaccine. A third of unvaccinated young black adults cited a distrust of the Covid-19 vaccine, compared with 23% of whites of the same age.

Black and white Americans are the ones who most trust doctors and nurses to get information about vaccines. But their confidence levels in various forms of media are different. Blacks are more likely to rely on social media for information about the vaccine, with 55% of black respondents saying yes, according to a recent Harris survey. This compares to 32% of white respondents. But social media may be fraught with misinformation.

“There are many people, especially in the black community, who are looking for other people who know or trust their community,” said Harris Poll managing director Rob Jekielek. “Many of the people they are connected with have the same apprehensions and share content that reinforces their own fears.”

Followers of anti-vaccine social media accounts have increased by 20% since 2019, according to a report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nonprofit organization that monitors the spread of misinformation online. The organization tracked nearly 58 million anti-vaccine accounts and found that they are more common on Facebook.

Even so, Jekielek said that the anti-vaccine movement does not concern him as much as other social media activities. Less harmful posts or memes that question how a vaccine could be developed so quickly contribute more broadly to the reluctance of inoculation found in sections of the population, he said. One of the biggest barriers to convincing some minority groups not to postpone is the lack of access to preventive health care that increases confidence in the medical system, he said.

“I am less concerned with the anti-axial, crowd with no chance of a public health perspective,” said Jekielek. “I am much more concerned with the next 25% – a large proportion of African Americans, who are delaying vaccination, which means that it will take longer to reach the goal of 80% of the population’s herd immunity. “

Write to Maureen Linke at [email protected] and Luis Melgar at [email protected]