Table 5.
Informants’ Perceptions of Reasons to Vaccinate or Not Vaccinate with COVID-19 and Routine Vaccines.
| Intent to vaccinate | Intent not to vaccinate |
|---|---|
| Co-Morbid Conditions. Individuals with past experience of severe illness and disease or comorbid conditions will more likely get vaccinated with COVID-19 or routine vaccines. For example, the experiences of those with HIV, such as stigma and limited access to services and medications, may make this population receptive to COVID-19 vaccines as this population was challenged in accessing HIV therapies. | Past Behavior. Non-compliance to other medical interventions may mean non-compliance to routine or COVID-19 vaccination. “Clients who do not take their diabetes medicine are not going to get vaccinated. It’s not specific to vaccines.” |
| “Wait and See.” Many individuals may be in a “wait and see” mode, wanting to be vaccinated, just not “first in line”. |
Structural Barriers. Structural barriers to accessing routine or COVID-19 vaccination services, include challenges securing childcare, limited transportation options, and the ability to get time off from work. These real-world challenges existed prior to the pandemic. The feeling that “real life gets in the way” was a common sentiment of the clients served by these interviewees. |
| Freedom. Respondents stated that some in their communities “see the light at the end of the tunnel” and are “ready to move on from the pandemic,” so if vaccines were required to get to where clients wanted to be (e.g., requirement for travel), they would get vaccinated. | |
| Peer Examples. Informants felt that seeing more of the public and more people they know get vaccinated would encourage vaccination. |
Source Notes: Specific to childhood vaccination, informants felt that individuals in communities would want to protect their children against routine vaccine preventable diseases and COVID 19 and that requirements such as school mandates would encourage compliance to vaccination recommendations. One respondent also stated that “vaccines are miracles.”.