Attitudes and Perceptions Towards Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Vaccine Acceptance Among Recovered African American Patients

Abstract

Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines were approved in December 2020 and vaccinations have since commenced. Both vaccines reported efficacy rates > 90% during clinical trials. Adequate vaccine uptake is necessary to effectively combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Though African Americans are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 compared to other racial groups in the USA, a survey of US adults showed that African Americans had the lowest COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rate. Historically, African American adults are less likely than non-Hispanic whites to receive recommended vaccines partly due to a perceived higher risk of side effects and distrust in the healthcare system. It is unclear how long natural immunity from a previous COVID-19 infection lasts, with some studies reporting up to 6 months. Therefore, the center for disease control and prevention (CDC) recently recommended vaccination regardless of previous infection. We evaluated the acceptability of COVID-19 vaccination among African American patients after recovery from COVID-19 infection. This study was conducted during the development stages of COVID-19 vaccines and there was no definitive CDC on vaccination in recovered patients at the time.