To date, approximately 54 million people in the United States have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, and nearly 28 million have been fully vaccinated. In Callen-Lorde and other medical centers that treat many LGBTQ patients, healthcare professionals say they have seen a greater demand for the vaccine among white patients compared to patients with color.
LGBT people of color were twice as likely as white non-LGBT people to test positive for Covid-19, according to a study by the Williams Institute published in February. Although black people are at risk of contracting the disease, there are particular concerns about the vaccine among this population, experts say. In a study published this month in the journal Vaccines, 1,350 men and transgender women identified primarily as gay or bisexual reported how likely they were to get a Covid-19 vaccine. The study found that black participants were significantly more hesitant about vaccines than their white counterparts.
Healthcare professionals experience the same resistance in their patients. “Some people just literally said, ‘Well, no – Trump was getting this vaccine up and running, so I’m not going to get the vaccine,'” said Jill Crank, a nurse at Johns Hopkins Community Physicians in Baltimore. , said.
Studies show that hesitation about vaccination against Covid occurs in all demographic groups, including in the medical profession. About three in ten health workers are reluctant to get the vaccine, according to a survey published by KFF (formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation) in December, compared to about a quarter of the general population.
Dezjorn Gauthier, 29, a black transgender man who lives about 20 minutes from Milwaukee, said that although he is currently eligible to get the vaccine, he does not want it.
“Right now it’s a no-go,” he said. Gauthier, a model and business owner who has Covid-19 antibodies because he contracted the coronavirus last year. The vaccine development has ‘moved so fast and so fast, it just makes me hesitant’, he said, adding that he is also unsure about the ingredients of the vaccine. “There is a fear in the community.”
The experts said that the hesitation for members of the LGBTQ community, and especially people of color, stems in part from the existing mistrust in the medical institution.