Factors Influencing COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake among Spanish-Speaking Pregnant People

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic exposed the vulnerability of pregnant women to excess morbidity and mortality, as well as the disproportionate disease burden in certain racial, ethnic, and sociodemographic groups. Vaccine hesitancy represents a major threat to public health, and crafting messages that reach vulnerable groups and address their intersectionality remains a weakness for pandemic preparedness. We sought to investigate factors that influenced vaccine acceptance and social media ad response in a mixed-methods study of Spanish-speaking women living in the rural Western United States who were pregnant or recently pregnant between November 2022 and June 2023. Direct interviews were translated, transcribed, and coded, while the ad ratings were analyzed using linear mixed models. Participants most favorably rated ads that featured doctors and text-heavy content describing benefits of vaccination. Qualitative data illustrated how information from trusted medical providers along with generational and cultural history of vaccine acceptance positively impacted perspectives on vaccination. Immigration status had varying influences on vaccination perspectives. Future vaccination campaigns targeting Spanish-speaking pregnant individuals in rural communities should use medical providers as ad messengers and dispel fears that vaccine acceptance may lead to problems with immigration status.

Keywords: COVID-19; Hispanic; Latina; Spanish; maternal health; pregnancy; rural medicine; social media; vaccine; vaccine hesitancy.

Figure 1

Combinations of messengers and content themes in social media ads.

Figure 2

Likelihood of becoming vaccinated or boosted after seeing an ad by messengers (A) and content (B). The small gray dots indicate the individual participant scores. The large circles indicate the mean in each category.