Study finds minority patients less likely to refuse vaccines

Throughout the Covid pandemic, media widely reported that Black patients were more likely than White patients to refuse vaccines, including the influenza and Covid vaccines. A new study being presented at this year's American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting in Boston showed that self-identified non-White patients were less likely to demonstrate vaccine-hesitancy than the self-identified White patient group.

We found some surprising results from our study, including that minority patients were less likely to demonstrate vaccine hesitancy. Allergy and immunology patients may be immunocompromised and at higher risk for infections, so identifying vaccine-hesitant groups is essential to protecting these individuals and those at risk in the community. Our goal was to analyze patient characteristics and factors associated with influenza and COVID vaccine hesitancy in a clinic in a diverse community."

Albert Wu, MD, lead author of the study

The site of the study was an allergy clinic primarily serving the Brooklyn area of New York City. The clinic serves several zip codes predominantly below the median household income in the city as well as the least vaccinated zip codes in the city. It also serves communities of patients who are primarily immigrants.

Ethnicities included in the study included: White (37.2%), Hispanic (31.6%), Asian (18.9%), and Black (12.1%). 80% of the patient group spoke English as their primary language. In this study, 39 people (11.54%) refused both the influenza and COVID vaccine. Of the 39, distribution in each category was: White, 17.5%, Hispanic, 11.4%, Asian, 4.76%, and Black 4.9%. Gender, age, and language were not significantly associated with vaccine refusal rate.

"We felt a significant portion of vaccine hesitant patients were influenced by a feeling of mistrust of authority," says allergist Mary Lee-Wong, MD, senior author on the study and ACAAI member. "While public health campaigns with generalized messages are effective, building a relationship of trust and partnership with patients can be extremely impactful and a key way that allergists can help address vaccine hesitancy."