School Quality and COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: Linkages, Potential Consequences, and Future Questions
Abstract
Background: The Georgia Black Belt (GBB) has a growing problem of vaccine hesitancy linked to mistrust that has not improved since the pandemic. Educational factors are known to be related to health disparities and an extensive literature review revealed the critical importance of schools within communities across the GBB region. Therefore, the purpose of this project was to explore the relationship between vaccine hesitancy and educational factors in the GBB during the initial rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.
Methods: Geospatial methods were used to examine data captured from the CMU Delphi COVID Collaborative and Georgia Public Schools’ 2019 CCRPI Scores. Local and global Moran’s I, correlation matrices, and VIF were used to select appropriate variables as independent variables in OLS regression and spatial regression models for vaccine hesitancy in the GBB.
Results: Clustering of vaccine hesitancy in the GBB was evident. Regressions revealed that as the CCRPI score increased, so did vaccine hesitancy. This demonstrates a relationship between quality of school and vaccine hesitancy in these communities.
Conclusion: Little is known about the factors influencing vaccine hesitancy in the GBB. We showed that vaccine hesitancy was positively related to CCRPI score which suggests that quality of school has a correlation to vaccine hesitancy in the GBB. This study begs the question about quality of health education in schools and if CCRPI is accurately capturing holistic elements of school quality. Additionally, our study has significant policy implications if it is able to be replicated in other communities and using other datasets that capture vaccine hesitancy. CCRPI at this time does not capture elements of community health, but this study highlights the potential insights gained by expanding the lens of population health to include specific educational factors. Subsequent research will focus on understanding this phenomenon and exploring if it is generalizable.
Keywords
Health Literacy, School Quality, Vaccine Hesitancy, COVID-19, Education Quality, Geospatial Methods
School Quality and COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: Linkages, Potential Consequences, and Future Questions
Background: The Georgia Black Belt (GBB) has a growing problem of vaccine hesitancy linked to mistrust that has not improved since the pandemic. Educational factors are known to be related to health disparities and an extensive literature review revealed the critical importance of schools within communities across the GBB region. Therefore, the purpose of this project was to explore the relationship between vaccine hesitancy and educational factors in the GBB during the initial rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.
Methods: Geospatial methods were used to examine data captured from the CMU Delphi COVID Collaborative and Georgia Public Schools’ 2019 CCRPI Scores. Local and global Moran’s I, correlation matrices, and VIF were used to select appropriate variables as independent variables in OLS regression and spatial regression models for vaccine hesitancy in the GBB.
Results: Clustering of vaccine hesitancy in the GBB was evident. Regressions revealed that as the CCRPI score increased, so did vaccine hesitancy. This demonstrates a relationship between quality of school and vaccine hesitancy in these communities.
Conclusion: Little is known about the factors influencing vaccine hesitancy in the GBB. We showed that vaccine hesitancy was positively related to CCRPI score which suggests that quality of school has a correlation to vaccine hesitancy in the GBB. This study begs the question about quality of health education in schools and if CCRPI is accurately capturing holistic elements of school quality. Additionally, our study has significant policy implications if it is able to be replicated in other communities and using other datasets that capture vaccine hesitancy. CCRPI at this time does not capture elements of community health, but this study highlights the potential insights gained by expanding the lens of population health to include specific educational factors. Subsequent research will focus on understanding this phenomenon and exploring if it is generalizable.
