Promoting trustworthiness of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine among Black and Latinx communities

The COVID-19 pandemic is disproportionately impacting marginalized communities. Due to structural inequities, adults and children identifying as Black or Latinx are at higher risk for COVID-19 related morbidity, mortality, and economic ramifications. Lack of trustworthiness of medical institutions, research, and government, grounded in historical trauma and oppression, may impede acceptance and distribution of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine when it is available. This “scaling grant” proposal leverages the expertise of a multidisciplinary community-academic team to conduct surveys and interviews with Black and Latinx adults residing in neighborhoods with concentrated disadvantage with the goal of identifying strategies to promote SARS-CoV-2 vaccine trustworthiness at multiple levels: health care, research institutions, community, and government (including public health agencies). This proposal is urgent and significant because we aim to shift away from a focus on ‘educating’ minoritized communities to address mistrust towards listening and learning from community partners about how research institutions and health professionals can create vaccine messaging and practices that improve trustworthiness. Results from this study will inform future larger scale grants to the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities to evaluate the impact of these strategies on reducing SARS-CoV-2 vaccine disparities when the eventual FDA-approved vaccine is available.