Trust in government actors and COVID-19 vaccination uptake among Hispanics and Latinos in the U.S

Abstract

Although the federal government has made official recommendations to the public advocating vaccinations against COVID-19 various communities have decided against doing so. In this regard, various studies have indicated that trust in government to provide accurate information about vaccines during a pandemic are related to whether people get vaccinated. Various studies have investigated factors contributing to vaccine decision-making, but none specifically focus on Hispanic and Latinos in the United States. This study identifies factors associated with COVID-19 vaccination among Hispanics and Latinos using a nation-wide, phone-based survey. Using data generated by the Kaiser Family Foundation's COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor, collected in June 2021, a logistic regression on the decision to get vaccinated, trust in various governmental actors, in addition to demographic variables such as age, race, employment status, parental status, employment status, and income are observed to be significant in Hispanics' and Latinos' decision to be vaccinated against COVID-19. As a byproduct of these findings, recommendations for future research are provided that relate to expanding our understanding of these factors among different ethnicities of Latinos.

Keywords: COVID-19; Hispanics and Latinos; Pandemics; Public health behavior; Trust in government; Vaccine hesitancy.