The COVID-19 Vaccine Conundrum - An Assessment of Vaccine Hesitancy Amongst Patients at a Federally Qualified Health Center

Introduction: There are currently three COVID-19 vaccines that have been authorized for emergency use. Vaccine hesitancy has the potential to sabotage COVID-19 vaccination efforts and be detrimental to establishing herd immunity. In order to appreciate the extent of vaccine hesitancy, an adequate understanding of the role that selfidentified barriers and epidemiologic factors may play is timely and important. Research Question or Hypothesis: This study sought to determine answers to the following research questions: 1. Is there a correlation between vaccine hesitancy and epidemiologic factors? 2. What are the perceived patient-reported barriers associated with receiving a COVID-19 vaccine? Study Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study Methods: A written questionnaire was utilized to collect data from eligible patients over a 15-week period between October 2020 and February 2021. A combination of non-parametric tests and descriptive statistics were used to analyze this data. Results: A majority of patients were either very strongly in support of (28.2%) or very strongly against (29.7%) receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. Notable statistically significant findings included patients with advanced degrees being more likely to get vaccinated (48.1%) compared to those without advanced degrees, who were more unlikely to get vaccinated (38.8%) (p = 0.002). There was also a statistically significant difference between races and ethnicities regarding their interest in receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. African Americans were more likely to avoid getting vaccinated compared to Caucasians and Hispanics (p <0.001). The most reported barrier to receiving a COVID-19 vaccine was concern for side effects. Conclusion: This study provides a glimpse into patient-reported barriers to receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. With widespread vaccination underway, it is imperative that we address potential concerns to ensure herd immunity is adequately achieved.