Gender, Age and COVID-19 Vaccination Status in African American Adult Faith-Based Congregants in the Southeastern United States

• Published in: Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities 2024-10, Vol.11 (5), p.2827-2838
• Main Authors: Foy, Capri G., Lloyd, Shawnta L., Williams, Kelvin L., Gwathmey, TanYa M., Caban-Holt, Allison, Starks, Takiyah D., Fortune, Doreen R., Ingram, LaDrea R., Byrd, Goldie S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; African Americans; Age; Age differences; Age Factors; Aged; Black or African American - statistics & numerical data; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - ethnology; COVID-19 - prevention & control; COVID-19 vaccines; COVID-19 Vaccines - administration & dosage; Cross-Sectional Studies; Disease control; Drug dosages; Educational attainment; Epidemiology; Ethnic groups; Faith-Based Organizations; Female; Gender; Gender differences; Humans; Immunization; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Men; Middle Aged; Minority & ethnic groups; Pandemics; Polls & surveys; Quality of Life Research; Regression analysis; Regression models; Religious organizations; Sex Factors; Social Inequality; Social Structure; Southeastern United States - epidemiology; Statistical analysis; Surveys; Surveys and Questionnaires; Vaccination - statistics & numerical data; Vaccines; Variables; Women; Womens health; Young Adult
• ISSN: 2197-3792; 2196-8837; 2196-8837
• DOI: 10.1007/s40615-023-01744-w

Objectives The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed significant differences in COVID-19 vaccination rates, with African Americans reporting lower rates compared to other racial and ethnic groups. The purpose of these analyses was to assess whether COVID-19 vaccination status differed according to age in a sample of 1,240 African American adult congregants of faith-based organizations ages 18 years or older, and to examine whether this association was moderated by gender. Design We developed and administered a 75-item cross-sectional survey, the Triad Pastor’s Network COVID-19 and COVID-19 Vaccination survey, to assess experiences and perceptions regarding the COVID-19 virus and vaccines. We assessed the association between age and having received > 1 dose of a COVID-19 vaccine using unadjusted and multivariable binary logistic regression models, and the interaction of age and gender with COVID-19 vaccination status in a multivariable model. Results Approximately 86% of participants reported having received ≥ 1 dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The mean age (standard deviation) of the sample was 51.33 (16.62) years, and 70.9% of the sample was comprised of women. The age by gender interaction term in the multivariable model was significant ( p  = 0.005), prompting additional analyses stratified by gender. In women, increased age was significantly associated with higher odds of COVID-19 vaccination (odds ratio = 1.09; 95% Confidence Interval 1.06, 1.11; p