Table 4.
Quotations from participants in HIV vaccine acceptability focus groups | |
---|---|
Barriers | |
1. Duration of protection | “What happens if the strain changes and you need to get another vaccination three years down the line and all of a sudden. . .you. . .have. . .too much of this in your body?” (MSM)a “[Is it] once in your life?... do I have to come back each month or each year or what?” (Youth) |
2. Cross-clade protection | “The [HIV] virus from the United States is different than the virus from other countries. . .so if people come from other countries, they will infect others with a different virus.” (Latina) “. . .if people were to get vaccinated, would they then assume that they were completely safe when they might actually be able to be exposed to a different strain?” (Female IDU)b |
3. Cost and access | “If it wasn’t free, I wouldn’t be able to afford it.” (Male IDU) “If it was free, I wouldn’t trust it because then I think that they were trying to reverse it and make you sicker.” (Male IDU) “Who would get the vaccine. . ..Like in Africa millions of people are dying. How is it going to be distributed?” (Latina) |
Motivators | |
1. Unprotected sex | “I would get vaccinated so that I don’t get HIV and to practice sex without condoms.” (Latino MSM) “There will be more promiscuity. . .more sexual freedom in regards to ‘try anything you want.”’ (Latino) “A lot of my friends have died already [of HIV/AIDS]. . .We’ve had friends affected and. . . I’m not sure I feel like continuing to practice safe sex.” (MSM) “Feel. . .safe about having unprotected sex. . .peace of mind.” (MSM) |
2. Vaccine endorsement | “If my doctor, who I trust, recommended that I do it, I would do it.” (MSM) “I would trust the radio, especially if it was on 92.3 - The Beat. I would trust the radio. That’s me.” (Youth) |
3. Improving overall health | “I would take the vaccine because I want to stay alive as long as I can.” (Female IDU) “My friends and I would do it because we are already infected and we want a cure.” (Latino MSM) “for health reasons.” (Female IDU) |
MSM = men who have sex with men.
IDU = injection drug user.