Socioeconomic impact of COVID-19 and willingness to be vaccinated in African American/Black and Hispanic/Latinx adults.

To describe the socioeconomic and healthcare-related effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and willingness to receive a free COVID-19 vaccine, among African American/Black (AA/B) and Hispanic/Latinx (H/L) adults with asthma currently enrolled in a large trial. The present analysis is a sub-study of the PeRson EmPowered Asthma RElief (PREPARE) study, a pragmatic study of 1201 AA/B and H/L adults with asthma. A monthly questionnaire was completed by a subset of PREPARE participants (n = 325) during May-August, 2020. The 5-item questionnaire assessed self-reported impact of COVID-19 on respondents' ability to obtain asthma medications, medical care quality, employment, income and ability to pay bills; and willingness to get a free COVID-19 vaccine. Bivariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression were performed to investigate factors associated with vaccine hesitancy. Of 325 survey respondents (25% AA/B, 75% H/L), the majority reported no impact of COVID-19 on medical care or ability to get asthma medications. Approximately half of employed respondents experienced a lower level of employment or job loss, and approximately half reported having difficulty paying bills during the pandemic. Thirty-five percent of respondents reported unwillingness and 31% reported being somewhat likely to receive a free COVID-19 vaccine. AA/B race/ethnicity and poorer reported physical health were associated with a higher likelihood of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. AA/B and H/L adults with asthma may experience changes in the quality of their asthma care and increased socioeconomic stressors as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and may be hesitant or unwilling to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

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Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Inc.

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Declaration of Competing Interest Dr. Cardet reports honoraria from Genentech and AstraZeneca for work on their advisory boards, unrelated to this manuscript, Dr. Israel reports personal fees from AB Science, Allergy and Asthma Network, Biometry, Equillium, Merck, NHLBI, 4D Pharma, Pneuma Respiratory, PPS Health, Regeneron, Sanofi Genzyme, and Sienna Biopharmaceutical; grants and personal fees from Amgen, AstraZeneca, Avillion, and Novartis; personal fees and non-financial support from Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, and TEVA; grants from Gossamer Bio; grants and non-financial support from Circassia; non-financial support from Boehringer Ingelheim; and other from Vorso Corp, outside the submitted work.