Sangam: A Confluence of Knowledge Streams

Brief Report: Perspectives of Foster Care Alumni on COVID-19 Vaccination: Key Findings and a Call to Action

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dc.creator Shpiegel, Svetlana
dc.creator Aparicio, Elizabeth M.
dc.date 2021-05-24T12:35:09Z
dc.date 2021-05-24T12:35:09Z
dc.date 2021-06
dc.date.accessioned 2022-05-20T08:38:30Z
dc.date.available 2022-05-20T08:38:30Z
dc.identifier https://doi.org/10.13016/lc6w-zdcg
dc.identifier http://hdl.handle.net/1903/27075
dc.identifier.uri http://localhost:8080/xmlui/handle/CUHPOERS/117628
dc.description The United States recently surpassed 32 million cases and 570 thousand deaths due to COVID-19. Vaccination of the general population is critical to ending the pandemic, and several highly effective vaccines have now received emergency FDA approval. Young adults are a key group to target for vaccination, as they may be asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19 and unknowingly spread the virus to others. However, recent research suggests that young adults have concerns about COVID-19 vaccination, particularly if they belong to racial and ethnic minority groups or other marginalized populations. Young people with foster care backgrounds are predominantly Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), and their hesitancy toward COVID-19 vaccination may be exacerbated by public systems mistrust and ineffective messaging channels. To better understand vaccination attitudes among this population, we conducted focus groups and individual interviews with 23 young people ages 18 to 26 who had recently aged out of foster care. All young people in our sample were parents of young children; thus, their attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination have relevance for their own as well as their children’s likelihood of getting vaccinated. As part of this project, participants described their attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination and their reasoning for either accepting or declining a vaccine. Interview audio files were transcribed verbatim and rigorously analyzed using a structured approach to thematic analysis.
dc.description This study was funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The views expressed in this report are the authors’; the Annie E. Casey Foundation bears no responsibility for the analyses or interpretations presented in this report.
dc.format application/pdf
dc.language en_US
dc.relation School of Public Health
dc.relation Public & Community Health
dc.relation Digital Repository at the University of Maryland
dc.relation University of Maryland (College Park, MD)
dc.subject foster youth
dc.subject foster care
dc.subject COVID-19
dc.subject COVID-19 vaccination
dc.subject vacccination
dc.title Brief Report: Perspectives of Foster Care Alumni on COVID-19 Vaccination: Key Findings and a Call to Action
dc.type Technical Report


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