COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among Arab Americans

Abstract

(1) Background: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) vaccines have a significant impact on reducing morbidity and mortality from infection. However, vaccine hesitancy remains an obstacle in combating the pandemic. The Arab American (AA) population is understudied; thus, we aimed to explore COVID-19 attitudes within this community. (2) Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. An anonymous online survey was distributed to members of different AA associations and to the community through the snowball method. (3) Results: A total of 1746 participants completed the survey. A total of 92% of respondents reported having received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. A total of 73% reported willingness to receive a booster, and 72% plan to give their children the vaccine. On multivariate analysis, respondents were more likely to be vaccine-hesitant if they were hesitant about receiving any vaccine in general. They were less likely to be vaccine-hesitant if they were immigrants, over the age of 40, up to date on their general vaccination and if they believed that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective in preventing an infection. The belief that all vaccines are effective at preventing diseases was also associated with lower hesitancy. (4) Conclusions: This sample of AAs have higher vaccination rates and are more willing to vaccinate their children against COVID-19 when compared to the rest of the population. However, a reemergence of hesitancy might be arising towards the boosters.

Factors associated with COVID-19 booster vaccine willingness among migrants from the Eastern Mediterranean living in Australia: a cross-sectional study

“…This impact persists regardless of the level of educational attainment, trust in government, and type of information channel used. Previous studies reported that information need, subjective norms, perceived risk, and information channels can affect COVID-19 vaccine willingness, but they did not ask participants explicitly about exposure to the concerning news [ 12 , 25 , 26 , 28 , 29 , 33 , 34 , 37 – 40 ]. The effect of exposure to concerning news on willingness to receive a booster dose is an area that needs further research, especially with the introduction of new vaccines.…”

Factors associated with COVID-19 booster vaccine willingness among migrants from the Eastern Mediterranean living in Australia: a cross-sectional study

“…Concerns regarding the safety of new vaccines and the structures in place to monitor these new vaccines have been found to be signi cant factors affecting COVID-19 booster vaccine acceptance elsewhere. 10,[21][22][23] Willingness to receive a COVID-19 booster vaccine among the study population was high. These ndings are similar to studies assessing willingness for booster vaccines in Europe and North America.…”

“…These ndings are similar to studies assessing willingness for booster vaccines in Europe and North America. [21][22][23][24][25][26] This is a reassuring nding for public health authorities, as the success of a vaccination program relies in part on the willingness of a population to accept available vaccines. The high primary dose uptake and willingness to receive a booster dose among our study population may be attributed to community engagement programs, which improved accessibility for different communities by providing information in several languages in written and oral formats and outreach vaccination clinics for speci c communities.…”

“…Previous studies reported that information need, subjective norms, perceived risk, and information channels can affect COVID-19 vaccine willingness, but they did not ask participants explicitly about exposure to the concerning news. 12,21,22,24,25,29,30,[33][34][35][36] The effect of exposure to concerning news on willingness to receive a booster dose is an area that needs further research especially with the introduction of new vaccines. Our nding may be related to explicitly asking respondents about the news they had consumed in recent months.…”

Acceptance, attitudes, and barriers of vaccine booster dose among nursing students: A multicounty survey

“…For example, less than half of the Jordanian population intended to receive the booster dose (Al‐Qerem et al, 2022), and 51.6% of Algeria's adult population said they would accept a booster dose (Lounis et al, 2022). Several reasons for not receiving a booster vaccination have been articulated, including vaccine hesitancy, side effects after previous doses, government policies, drug companies and inadequate protection (Babicki & Mastalerz‐Migas, 2022; Kheil et al, 2022; Yoshida et al, 2022). The researchers stress the importance of illustrating the student's concerns and attitude upon the COVID‐19 vaccine and state that this is an essential step for planning a successful post‐pandemic strategy.…”