COVID-19 Pandemic Optimism and Vaccine Willingness among an Online Sample of US Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men.

Rob Stephenson,Alexis S Hunter,Stephen P Sullivan,Tanaka Md Chavanduka,Renee A Pitter

doi:10.3390/vaccines9070745

Abstract

This paper presents data from an online sample of U.S gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM), to explore the factors associated with three dimensions of vaccine beliefs: perception of the likelihood of a COVID-19 vaccine becoming available, perception of when a COVID-19 vaccine would become available, and the likelihood of taking a COVID-19 vaccine. Data are taken from the Love and Sex in the Time of COVID-19 study, collected from November 2020 to January 2021. A sample of 290 GBMSM is analyzed, modeling three binary outcomes: belief that there will be a COVID-19 vaccine, belief that the COVID-19 vaccine will be available in 6 months, and being very likely to take the COVID-19 vaccine. In contrast to other studies, Black/African Americans and GBMSM living with HIV had higher levels of pandemic optimism and were more likely to be willing to accept a vaccine. Men who perceived a higher prevalence of COVID-19 among their friends and sex partners, and those who had reduced their sex partners, were more likely to be willing to take a COVID-19 vaccine. There remained a small percentage of participants (14%) who did not think the pandemic would end, that there would not be a vaccine and were unlikely to take a vaccine. To reach the levels of vaccination necessary to control the pandemic, it is imperative to understand the characteristics of those experiencing vaccine hesitancy and then tailor public health messages to their unique set of barriers and motivations.

Highlights

Since the initial case of COVID-19 was identified in the U.S in March 2020, COVID-19 has spread to all 50 States, and by April 2021, there were 30,737,471 confirmed cases and 556,106 deaths, the largest number of COVID-19 deaths in any country [1]
In this paper we present unique data from an online sample of U.S gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM), to explore the factors associated with three dimensions of vaccine beliefs: perception of the likelihood a COVID-19 vaccine becoming available, perception of when a COVID-19 vaccine would become available, and the likelihood of taking a COVID-19 vaccine
Data for the current analysis were taken from the Love and Sex in the Time of COVID-19 study, an online study conducted by the authors with U.S GBMSM, which consisted of 2 surveys, with the same participants surveyed in each round of data collection

Summary

Introduction

Since the initial case of COVID-19 was identified in the U.S in March 2020, COVID-19 has spread to all 50 States, and by April 2021, there were 30,737,471 confirmed cases and 556,106 deaths, the largest number of COVID-19 deaths in any country [1]. The primary response to the epidemic has been stay-at-home orders, which restrict social mobility and physical contact as a mechanism for limiting the spread of COVID-19 infection. These stayat-home orders—rolled out at varying time points since March 2020 across the U.S—mean that approximately 316 million Americans have been urged to stay home [2]. While the behavioral response to controlling the spread of COVID-19 has focused on limiting social contact, the biomedical response has focused on the development of vaccines. By April 2021, 171 million vaccines had been administered to U.S adults [8]

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Conclusion