Study finds Black and Latino people are less likely to trust a coronavirus vaccine

Study finds Black and Latino people are less likely to trust a coronavirus vaccine

By Anthony Orozco / WITF

December 2, 2020

A survey by a nongovernmental group, shows Black and Latino people are hesitant to trust a COVID-19 vaccine. 

Around a third of Latinos and only 14% of Black people say they mostly or completely trust a vaccine, according to the survey by the COVID Collaborative. 

Vicky Kistler is the Health Bureau director for the Latino-majority city of Allentown. 

“Our strongest line of reaching those citizens is through the agencies and the individuals that they trust and that they spend the most amount of time with.”

Kistler says her agency partners with nonprofits, clergy and local entertainers to spread health messaging and overcome cultural or language barriers.

The study found Black people in particular are more likely to trust vaccine messaging from someone of their own race. 

Six in 10 Black adults and seven in 10 Latino adults are at least somewhat worried that they might catch the virus. 

Black people and Latinos are nearly five times more likely than white people to be hospitalized for COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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