Trustworthiness, Not Trust: How Systemic Racism Impacts COVID-19 Vaccine Receipt

Monique Jindal; Miao Jenny Hua; Madison Hartstein; Molly Martin

doi:10.1089/heq.2022.0145

Trustworthiness, Not Trust: How Systemic Racism Impacts COVID-19 Vaccine Receipt

Health Equity. 2023 Jul 5;7(1):380-383. doi: 10.1089/heq.2022.0145. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Monique Jindal¹, Miao Jenny Hua², Madison Hartstein³, Molly Martin⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
² Department of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine & Cook County Health, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
³ Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
⁴ Department of Pediatrics, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Abstract

To illuminate the forces of structural racism influencing COVID-19 vaccine receipt, we developed a conceptual model that recontextualizes trust and presents potential pathways to address structural racism. Our model emerged from Chicagoland CEAL, a partnership of community and academic experts collaborating to encourage COVID-19 vaccine uptake for communities of color. We concluded that systemic factors influenced by racism contribute to an overall lack of trustworthiness in vaccine-affiliated institutions. We highlight the need to recenter discussions of COVID-19 vaccination on our system's trustworthiness rather than mistrust and suggest using the model to test pathways to close racial gaps in COVID-19 vaccination.

Keywords: COVID; racism; trust; trustworthiness.