The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is causing enormous morbidity and mortality across the US and is disproportionately affecting racial/ethnic minority populations and elderly persons. High acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines will be instrumental to ending the pandemic.Four cross-sectional internet surveys [1][2][3][4] (3 using convenience samples 1,3,4 ) from April 2 and May 1,3,4 2020 found that 58% to 69% of adults intended to get vaccinated against COVID-19, with higher percentages reported in April 2 than in May. 1,3,4 These studies did not track the same individuals over time, making it difficult to assess whether intent to get vaccinated has truly declined.We analyzed biweekly survey data from a nationally representative longitudinal study to describe changes over time in the public's likelihood of getting a COVID-19 vaccine and across demographic subgroups.Methods | The Understanding America Study (UAS) is a probability-based internet panel survey of approximately 9000
This nationally representative survey found that less than one-half of US parents are likely to have their child receive COVID-19 vaccines when they are available. What's Known on This Subject:Very little is known about parental hesitancy for COVID-19 vaccines for children. What This Study Adds:This nationally representative survey found that less than one-half of US parents are likely to have their child receive the COVID-19 vaccine when it is available.
Introduction: This study examines COVID-19−associated discrimination regardless of infection status. It evaluates the contribution of various risk factors (e.g., race/ethnicity and wearing a face mask) and the relationship with mental distress among U.S. adults in March and April 2020, when the pandemic escalated across the country. Methods: Participants consisted of a probability-based, nationally representative sample of U.S. residents aged ≥18 years who completed COVID-19−related surveys online in March and April (n=3,665). Multivariable logistic regression was used to predict the probability of a person perceiving COVID-19−associated discrimination. Linear regression was used to analyze the association between discrimination and mental distress. Analyses were conducted in May 2020. Results: Perception of COVID-19−associated discrimination increased from March (4%) to April (10%). Non-Hispanic Black (absolute risk from 0.09 to 0.15 across months) and Asians (absolute risk from 0.11 to 0.17) were more likely to perceive discrimination than other racial/ethnic groups (absolute risk from 0.03 to 0.11). Individuals who wore face masks (absolute risk from 0.11 to 0.14) also perceived more discrimination than those who did not (absolute risk from 0.04 to 0.11). Perceiving discrimination was subsequently associated with increased mental distress (from 0.77 to 1.01 points on the 4-item Patient Health Questionnaire score). Conclusions: Perception of COVID-19−associated discrimination was relatively low but increased with time. Perceived discrimination was associated with race/ethnicity and wearing face masks and may contribute to greater mental distress during early stages of the pandemic. The longterm implications of this novel form of discrimination should be monitored.
Background The COVID-19 pandemic brought about large increases in mental distress. The uptake of COVID-19 vaccines is expected to significantly reduce health risks, improve economic and social outcomes, with potential benefits to mental health. Purpose To examine short-term changes in mental distress following the receipt of the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Methods Participants included 8,003 adults from the address-based sampled, nationally representative Understanding America Study (UAS), surveyed at regular intervals between March 10, 2020, and March 31, 2021 who completed at least two waves of the survey. Respondents answered questions about COVID-19 vaccine status and self-reported mental distress as measured with the four-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4). Fixed-effects regression models were used to identify the change in PHQ-4 scores and categorical indicators of mental distress resulting from the application of the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Results People who were vaccinated between December 2020 and March 2021 reported decreased mental distress levels in the surveys conducted after receiving the first dose. The fixed-effects estimates show an average effect of receiving the vaccine equivalent to 4% of the standard deviation of PHQ-4 scores (p-value<0.01), a reduction in 1 percentage point (4% reduction from the baseline level) in the probability of being at least mildly depressed, and of 0.7 percentage points (15% reduction from the baseline level) in the probability of being severely depressed (p-value = 0.06). Conclusions Getting the first dose of COVID-19 resulted in significant improvements in mental health, beyond improvements already achieved since mental distress peaked in the spring of 2020.
High acceptance of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines is instrumental to ending the pandemic. Vaccine acceptance by subgroups of the population depends on their trust in COVID-19 vaccines. We surveyed a probability-based internet panel of 7832 adults from December 23, 2020–January 19, 2021 about their likelihood of getting a COVID-19 vaccine and the following domains of trust: an individual's generalized trust, trust in COVID-19 vaccine's efficacy and safety, trust in the governmental approval process and general vaccine development process for COVID-19 vaccines, trust in their physician about COVID-19, and trust in other sources about COVID-19. We included identified at-risk subgroups: healthcare workers, older adults (65–74-year-olds and ≥ 75-year-olds), frontline essential workers, other essential workers, and individuals with high-risk chronic conditions. Of 5979 respondents, only 57.4% said they were very likely or somewhat likely to get a COVID-19 vaccine. More hesitant respondents ( p < 0.05) included: women, young adults (18–49 years), Blacks, individuals with lower education, those with lower income, and individuals without high-risk chronic conditions. Lack of trust in the vaccine approval and development processes explained most of the demographic variation in stated vaccination likelihood, while other domains of trust explained less variation. We conclude that hesitancy for COVID-19 vaccines is high overall and among at-risk subgroups, and hesitancy is strongly tied to trust in the vaccine approval and development processes. Building trust is critical to ending the pandemic.
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