TY - JOUR
T1 - COVID-19 vaccination intention and behavior in a large, diverse, U.S. refugee population
AU - Shaw, Jana
AU - Anderson, Kathryn B.
AU - Fabi, Rachel E.
AU - Thompson, Carlie A.
AU - Harris, Megan
AU - Aljabbarin, Nidaa
AU - Bolourchi, Donna
AU - Mozo, Nicole
AU - Lichtenstein, Daniel
AU - Lupone, Christina D.
AU - Larsen, David A.
AU - Shaw, Andrea V.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Central New York Community Foundation, and Community Support for Refugee & Immigrant families from Refugee Health Navigators in Syracuse, New York.
Funding Information:
We would like to thank Catholic Charities of Onondaga County for partnering with us as a trusted safe site to support COVID-19 19 needs of the refugee community, especially for translation and outreach for this project. The entire team was instrumental to this effort, especially Felicia Castricone (director of Refugee Health Services) and Elizabeth Causgrove (director of health navigators) and health navigator team (Mustafa Aslam, Somayyeh Alizadeh, Mira Feghali, Saron Fitwi, Espoir Kimaze, Lieve Kitsa, Ehdarbu Soe). This work was supported by the Central New York Community Foundation, and Community Support for Refugee & Immigrant families from Refugee Health Navigators in Syracuse, New York.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2022/2/23
Y1 - 2022/2/23
N2 - Introduction: Refugees often face increased risk of exposure to COVID-19 due to their disproportionate representation in the essential workforce and crowded household conditions. There is a paucity of data about risk factors for under-immunization for COVID-19 among refugees. Methods: Refugees were surveyed in two phases that corresponded to before and after wide availability of COVID-19 vaccines. Participants were asked about their attitudes, and perceptions about COVID-19, previous acceptance of vaccines, sources utilized to obtain trusted health information, and intent to get vaccinated. The overall participant vulnerability was assessed using the social vulnerability index. In-depth semi-structured interviews were completed with key stakeholders through snowball sampling. Results: Of 247 refugees, 244 agreed to participate in the initial survey. Among those, 140 (57.4%) intended to get vaccinated, 43 (17.6%) were unsure, and 61 (25%) did not intend to get vaccinated. In the follow up survey, all 215 who were reached, agreed to provide information about their vaccination status. Among those respondents, 141 (65.6%) were either vaccinated or expressed intent to do so, and 74 (34.4%) remained hesitant. We did not observe any significant correlation between socio-demographic variables, country of origin, and vaccination status/intent. Among those who initially intended to get vaccinated, nearly 1 in 5 changed their mind and decided to forego vaccination, and among those who initially did not plan getting vaccinated, 1 in 3 changed their mind and got vaccinated. Fears related to the vaccine, concerns that the vaccine is religiously prohibited, “wait and see” how others did with the vaccine, communication and transportation barriers were commonly cited as reason not to get vaccinated. Conclusions: Over a third of refugees in our study were hesitant to get vaccinated. Refugees desired additional education about the benefits and safety of vaccines along with easier access to vaccination clinics in their communities.
AB - Introduction: Refugees often face increased risk of exposure to COVID-19 due to their disproportionate representation in the essential workforce and crowded household conditions. There is a paucity of data about risk factors for under-immunization for COVID-19 among refugees. Methods: Refugees were surveyed in two phases that corresponded to before and after wide availability of COVID-19 vaccines. Participants were asked about their attitudes, and perceptions about COVID-19, previous acceptance of vaccines, sources utilized to obtain trusted health information, and intent to get vaccinated. The overall participant vulnerability was assessed using the social vulnerability index. In-depth semi-structured interviews were completed with key stakeholders through snowball sampling. Results: Of 247 refugees, 244 agreed to participate in the initial survey. Among those, 140 (57.4%) intended to get vaccinated, 43 (17.6%) were unsure, and 61 (25%) did not intend to get vaccinated. In the follow up survey, all 215 who were reached, agreed to provide information about their vaccination status. Among those respondents, 141 (65.6%) were either vaccinated or expressed intent to do so, and 74 (34.4%) remained hesitant. We did not observe any significant correlation between socio-demographic variables, country of origin, and vaccination status/intent. Among those who initially intended to get vaccinated, nearly 1 in 5 changed their mind and decided to forego vaccination, and among those who initially did not plan getting vaccinated, 1 in 3 changed their mind and got vaccinated. Fears related to the vaccine, concerns that the vaccine is religiously prohibited, “wait and see” how others did with the vaccine, communication and transportation barriers were commonly cited as reason not to get vaccinated. Conclusions: Over a third of refugees in our study were hesitant to get vaccinated. Refugees desired additional education about the benefits and safety of vaccines along with easier access to vaccination clinics in their communities.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Hesitancy
KW - Refugee
KW - Vaccine
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85124010623&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85124010623&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.01.057
DO - 10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.01.057
M3 - Article
C2 - 35125223
AN - SCOPUS:85124010623
SN - 0264-410X
VL - 40
SP - 1231
EP - 1237
JO - Vaccine
JF - Vaccine
IS - 9
ER -