LGBT Americans More Willing To Get COVID-19 Vaccine Jab, Says Study
Image: COVID-19 vaccination being administered at the Los Angeles LGBT Center
LGBT Americans are more willing than the general population to get vaccinated against Coronavirus, with a large majority viewing it as a social responsibility to protect others, a new study has revealed. The findings were part of the Kaiser Family Foundation’s COVID Vaccine Monitor that analyses people’s attitude towards vaccinations.
As of March 21, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 81.4 million people in the US had received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. US has reported over 29.8 million cases of Coronavirus infections and 542,359 deaths.
There has been very little research on the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic on the LGBTQI+ population. The KFF study examined the reported experiences of 174 self-identified LGBT individuals over a period of two months between December 2020 and January 2021.
Around 75% of LGBT people said that vaccination was a part of everyone’s responsibility to protect others. As opposed to this, among non-LGBT people, only 48% felt it was a social responsibility, while 49% saw it as a personal choice.
One In 10 LGBT Persons Will Not Get Vaccinated
40% of LGBT Americans said they would get vaccinated as soon as possible and 39% said they would wait to see the effectiveness of vaccines in others before getting the jab. Among the non-LGBT population the figures were 36% and 36% respectively. One in 10 LGBT people (10%) said they will not get vaccinated, compared to 15% in the general population.
“A larger share of LGBT people view COVID-19 vaccination as a collective responsibility than as an individual choice, potentially reflecting the community’s experience with HIV, another infectious disease that requires community level buy-in of public health strategies to curb,” said the researchers.
“Compared to non-LGBT adults, larger shares of LGBT adults are younger, live on lower incomes, and identify as Democrats, factors that may also contribute to the difference observed.”
The study reported that LGBT Americans reported being hit harder by the pandemic. Around 56% of LGBT Americans reported that they or someone in their family had experienced a COVID-era job loss, compared to non LGBT adults (44%). When it came to the impact on mental health, around 74% of LGBT respondents reported a negative impact caused by worry and stress. In the non-LGBT population it was 49%.
“We find that LGBT adults have experienced the pandemic differently than non-LGBT people in some key domains including with respect to their risk of COVID-19, mental health, employment loss, vaccine attitudes, and willingness to engage in risk-reduction behavior such as social distancing,” the researchers said.
