COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among Behavioral Risk Takers

The COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as a major public health issue, with vaccines serving as a vital preventive strategy to lower the global burden. Yet, despite national and local mandates, key sectors of the population continue to demonstrate lower compliance rates. In the United States, young adults have the lowest vaccination rates among the adult population. The goal of our study was to utilize the largest state-health survey to assess the key determinants of such hesitancy in order to create targeted interventions for the most at-risk groups to ensure equitable outcomes in disease prevention. We utilized the latest available California Health Interview Survey, a population-based complex probability survey, to evaluate determinants of vaccine hesitancy among young adults. Survey-weighted descriptive statistics, bivariate statistics, and multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted. All statistical tests used p less than 0.05 to determine statistical significance. A total of 1203 respondents, representative of 4,027,462 young adults (ages 18-25 years) were included in our study. Our primary findings note that 24% of participants reported they would not be willing to take the COVID-19 vaccination. Prevalence of vaccine hesitancy was also significantly higher among young adults who were current smokers (including electronic cigarettes), when compared to non-current smokers (36% vs. 22%). Further, the highest prevalence was also noted among young adults who identified as African-American (51%), had a high school degree or less (34%), those who were overweight or obese (28%), and reported a poor health status (22%). Multivariable regression analysis demonstrated that current smokers, as compared to non-current smokers, had more than double the odds of reporting COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. African-American young adults or young adults with a high school degree or less were both independently associated with at least a three-fold increase in vaccine hesitancy. Participants with psychological distress, however, were more likely to be accepting of the vaccine. Public health efforts to improve vaccine compliance need targeted efforts, including building trust in the healthcare system for African-Americans and promoting easier access and knowledge of vaccines among those with a high school degree or less, as well as young-adults who are currently smoking, with such efforts targeting behavioral interventions focused on risk aversion.