Strategies that Promote Equity in COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake for Undocumented Immigrants: A Review

Abstract

There has been a dearth of reports that examine the effect of immigration status on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. While intention to be vaccinated has been higher among adults in immigrant families than non-immigrant adults, uptake of the vaccine has been lower among immigrants and especially those who are undocumented. Concerns raised by immigrants usually centered on the lack of access to information, language barriers, conflicts between work and clinic hours, and fears over their precarious status in the U.S. To perform a rapid review, our time frame was December 2020 through August 2021. Our search strategy used the PUBMED and Google search engines with a prescribed set of definitions and search terms for two reasons: there were limited peer-reviewed studies during the early period of roll-out and real-time perspectives were crucially needed. Strategies used to promote equity include the use of trusted leaders as well as direct communication styles. Other strategies centered informational messaging from government agencies and the medical community, with a strong emphasis on coalescing broad engagement of the community and being responsive to language and cultural needs. In addition to communication and messaging to educate about COVID-19 vaccines, another important aspect of COVID-19 vaccine uptake was overcoming multiple obstacles that affect ease of access. This report suggests that vaccine uptake, and more generally pandemic response, in vulnerable communities may be better able to launch when they build on existing, trusted, culturally intelligent community-based organizations and local sociocultural processes. These organizations need continued support to contribute to population health equity in emerging health crises.