UH researchers study vaccine hesitancy
Many Americans, particularly minorities, are hesitant or skeptical about receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, and institutions, like the University of Houston, are hoping to change that.
UH researchers have joined state and national consortiums to work in diverse communities disproportionately affected by COVID to help identify solutions for vaccine hesitancy and to understand perceptions people have about new home-based testing and participation in trials.
“We need to understand community perceptions about testing so we can provide the necessary information to counter rumors and misinformation,” said Bettina M. Beech, UH associate provost for strategic initiatives and population health research and principal investigator for the UH project. “You can’t make changes if you don’t know where people stand.”
The national consortium, funded through the National Institutes of Health, distributed a $12 million award to 11 states to work as teams. The Texas CEAL Consortium, led by the University of North Texas
“We need to understand community perceptions about testing so we can provide the necessary information to counter rumors and misinformation.”
Bettina M. Beech, principal investigator for the project
Health Science Center, will focus on various areas in the state, including Bexar, Dallas and Hidalgo counties, according to NIH.
UH researchers will focus on Harris County along with MD Anderson Cancer Center, health nonprofit Can Do Houston and Baylor College of Medicine.
The team has already starting holding virtual sessions with community organizations. And the researchers co-sponsored a series of mobile events that offer free flu shots at local churches, housing developments, clinics and service organizations in hopes of engag
ing and teaching people from underrepresented groups about clinical trials and vaccines. They also plan to conduct a nationwide survey of Black and Hispanic physicians and pharmacists to assess their confidence in the vaccines.
Beech said 80 percent to 85 percent of the country must be vaccinated in order to achieve population or herd immunity, but hesitancy or reluctance to get a COVID vaccine could be an obstacle.
A Texas A&M Universityled survey of about 5,000 Americans showed that 31 percent of them do not intend to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The numbers are even higher among Black Americans, women and conservatives.
High refusal rates
According to the study, women are 71 percent more likely to not pursue vaccination, while refusal among Black Americans was 41 percent.
Among the greatest concerns were safety and effectiveness, particularly among women. Black Americans, along with Latinos are three times more likely to contract COVID-19 and twice as likely to die from the disease compared to white people, expressed similar concerns in addition to worries about affordability and health insurance, despite Black people being infected with COVID-19 and dying at higher rates.
“This points to the need for the medical community and policymakers to find ways to both build trust in the vaccine in the African American community and to ensure that it is delivered affordably,” said Tim Callaghan, an assistant professor at A&M’s School of Public Health who led the study.
Beech, who is also a professor at UH College of Medicine, added that the skepticism and weariness of the vaccine or participating in vaccine trials among these groups is unsurprising. Many of these groups have difficulty accessing testing, information about the novel virus is developing every day, and the speed at which the vaccine has been developed and rolled out could be concerning to some, she said.
“There’s been hesitancy overall,” said Beech, who is also a professor at the UH College of Medicine.
History has played a part as well.
Communities of color have experienced a disproportionate lack of access to health care services and
medical atrocities around research, like the 40-year Tuskegee Study. The study was an experiment that began in 1932 in which Black men in Alabama with syphilis were given placebos instead of treatment or experimented on in other ways without their consent.
Houston’s advantage
Such histories can fuel mistrust, Beech said, but many groups that have been overlooked and wronged are now being prioritized through various initiatives to ensure that they are understood, included and educated on the vaccine. Houston, in particular, also has an advantage, with vaccine experts who have been developing the foundation for the COVID vaccine for more than a decade.
In Harris County, more than 222,000 people have been vaccinated, with 188,337 people, or 5.3 percent of Harris County residents age 16 and older, having received at least one dose as of Tuesday. In Harris County, 32,498 people have been fully vaccinated.
Beech added that while it’s important to consider why communities have reluctance, the entire health care system is also taking a look at itself.
“The onus is on the system to connect with individuals in spaces that they’re comfortable with, with folks who have gained trust to improve the entire nation,” Beech said. “We’re in a pandemic with developing information. … That’s challenging for people. We have to make sure we’re very clear with what we know and what we don’t know.”
Beech said she doesn’t see UH’s work ceasing anytime soon, even beyond the pandemic.
“We have to be more proactive moving forward. We know there will be other epidemics, hopefully not pandemics. There’s a likelihood of this happening again,” Beech said. “For us to be prepared, there has to be more coordination. … This work is ongoing.”