The role of trust in COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and acceptance among Black and White Americans

Abstract

Mass vaccination has been identified as the easiest way to combat the deadly spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease, yet many Americans are still hesitant to be vaccinated. To understand motivations behind why someone is vaccine hesitant, we conceptualized a theoretical model in which demographic variables are positively associated with four types of trust (i.e., trust in institutions, physicians, non-discrimination, and social media). These trust variables, in turn, are positively associated with the outcome variable of vaccine acceptance. A multi-group structural equation modeling analysis of survey data from 1008 U.S. adults suggested that trust in institutions and physicians were important for both White and Black Americans in whether they were vaccine accepting or hesitant, while trust in non-discrimination was important for Black Americans and trust in social media was important for White Americans. Implications of the findings and how they can inform future vaccine campaigns are discussed.