COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among Arab Americans

Kheil, Mira H.; Jain, Deepti; Jomaa, Jamil; Askar, Brandon; Alcodray, Yasmeen; Wahbi, Shatha; Brikho, Salar; Kadouh, Ali; Harajli, Deanna; Jawad, Zain N.; Fehmi, Ziad; Elhage, Malaak; Tawil, Tala; Fehmi, Omar; Alzouhayli, Suma J.; Ujayli, Deema; Suleiman, Noor; Kazziha, Omar; Saleh, Rawan; Abada, Evi; Shallal, Anita; Kim, Seongho; Kumar, Vijaya Arun; Zervos, Marcus; Cote, Michele L.; Ali-Fehmi, Rouba

doi:10.3390/vaccines10040610

Open AccessArticle

COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among Arab Americans

by

Mira H. Kheil

^1,†,

Deepti Jain

^1,†,

Jamil Jomaa

²

,

Brandon Askar

²,

Yasmeen Alcodray

²

,

Shatha Wahbi

²,

Salar Brikho

²,

Ali Kadouh

²,

Deanna Harajli

²,

Zain N. Jawad

²,

Ziad Fehmi

³,

Malaak Elhage

⁴,

Tala Tawil

¹,

Omar Fehmi

³,

Suma J. Alzouhayli

²,

Deema Ujayli

⁵

,

Noor Suleiman

²,

Omar Kazziha

⁶,

Rawan Saleh

¹,

Evi Abada

¹

,

Anita Shallal

⁷

,

Seongho Kim

^8,9

,

Vijaya Arun Kumar

¹⁰,

Marcus Zervos

⁷,

Michele L. Cote

⁹ and

Rouba Ali-Fehmi

^1,* Show full author list Hide full author list

¹

Department of Pathology, Wayne State University School of Medicine and Detroit Medical Center, 3990 John R. Road, Detroit, MI 48201, USA

²

School of Medicine, Wayne State University, 4201 Street Antoine, Detroit, MI 48201, USA

³

College of Literature, Science and the Arts, The University of Michigan, 101 N Main Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA

⁴

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Wayne State University, 4841 Cass Avenue, 2155 Old Main, Detroit, MI 48201, USA

⁵

College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, 965 Fee Road A110, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA

⁶

College of Education, Wayne State University, 5425 Gullen Mall, Detroit, MI 48202, USA

⁷

Division of Infectious Diseases, Henry Ford Hospital, 2799 W. Grand Blvd, CFP 303, Detroit, MI 48202, USA

⁸

Biostatistics Core, Karmanos Cancer Institute, Department of Oncology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 4100 John R. Road, Detroit, MI 48201, USA

⁹

Population Sciences and Disparities Research, Karmanos Cancer Institute, Department of Oncology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 4100 John R. Road, Detroit, MI 48201, USA

¹⁰

Department of Emergency Medicine, Wayne State University School of Medicine and Detroit Medical Center, 4201 Saint Antoine, Suite 6F UHC, Detroit, MI 48201, USA

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Vaccines 2022, 10(4), 610; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10040610

Submission received: 2 March 2022 / Revised: 11 April 2022 / Accepted: 12 April 2022 / Published: 14 April 2022

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vaccine Acceptance and Uptake: Insights from Behavioural and Social Sciences)

Download Versions Notes

Abstract

(1) Background: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) vaccines have a significant impact on reducing morbidity and mortality from infection. However, vaccine hesitancy remains an obstacle in combating the pandemic. The Arab American (AA) population is understudied; thus, we aimed to explore COVID-19 attitudes within this community. (2) Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. An anonymous online survey was distributed to members of different AA associations and to the community through the snowball method. (3) Results: A total of 1746 participants completed the survey. A total of 92% of respondents reported having received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. A total of 73% reported willingness to receive a booster, and 72% plan to give their children the vaccine. On multivariate analysis, respondents were more likely to be vaccine-hesitant if they were hesitant about receiving any vaccine in general. They were less likely to be vaccine-hesitant if they were immigrants, over the age of 40, up to date on their general vaccination and if they believed that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective in preventing an infection. The belief that all vaccines are effective at preventing diseases was also associated with lower hesitancy. (4) Conclusions: This sample of AAs have higher vaccination rates and are more willing to vaccinate their children against COVID-19 when compared to the rest of the population. However, a reemergence of hesitancy might be arising towards the boosters.

Keywords: COVID-19 vaccine; Arab Americans; vaccine hesitancy; Arab American health

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Kheil, M.H.; Jain, D.; Jomaa, J.; Askar, B.; Alcodray, Y.; Wahbi, S.; Brikho, S.; Kadouh, A.; Harajli, D.; Jawad, Z.N.; et al. COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among Arab Americans. Vaccines 2022, 10, 610. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10040610

AMA Style

Kheil MH, Jain D, Jomaa J, Askar B, Alcodray Y, Wahbi S, Brikho S, Kadouh A, Harajli D, Jawad ZN, et al. COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among Arab Americans. Vaccines. 2022; 10(4):610. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10040610

Chicago/Turabian Style

Kheil, Mira H., Deepti Jain, Jamil Jomaa, Brandon Askar, Yasmeen Alcodray, Shatha Wahbi, Salar Brikho, Ali Kadouh, Deanna Harajli, Zain N. Jawad, and et al. 2022. "COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among Arab Americans" Vaccines 10, no. 4: 610. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10040610

APA Style

Kheil, M. H., Jain, D., Jomaa, J., Askar, B., Alcodray, Y., Wahbi, S., Brikho, S., Kadouh, A., Harajli, D., Jawad, Z. N., Fehmi, Z., Elhage, M., Tawil, T., Fehmi, O., Alzouhayli, S. J., Ujayli, D., Suleiman, N., Kazziha, O., Saleh, R., ... Ali-Fehmi, R. (2022). COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among Arab Americans. Vaccines, 10(4), 610. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10040610

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Menu

COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among Arab Americans

Abstract

Share and Cite

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI