COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Trust in the Medical Profession, Physicians and Public Health Officials

Physicians may have an important role to play in reducing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, but the relationship between hesitancy and trust in the medical profession has been underexplored. In April 2021, U.S. adults were surveyed regarding their vaccine status and intentions, their views of the medical profession, and their levels of trust in their own doctors, and national and state/local officials. Mean factor scores were calculated for response to a validated scale measuring trust in the medical profession. Logistic regression models estimate the relationship between these factors scores and trust in other officials for hesitaters vs takers and refusers vs takers, controlling for population factors. Interaction terms for race and trust in the medical system were included to probe relationships between trust in the medical profession and vaccine hesitancy in racial subgroups.19.4% reported being hesitant to take the vaccine, 11.2% refused to take it. Lower mean factor scores of trust in the medical profession predicted being a refuser compared to a taker (AOR=.61, 95% CI 0.44-0.83), but not being a hesitater compared to a taker in adjusted models. However, for Hispanics only, the probability of being in the hesitater group declines significantly as mean factor scores increased. Lower levels of trust in state/local officials, national officials and one’s own physician were associated with being either a hesitater or a refuser compared to a taker. Mobilizing physicians to speak proactively to patients about the COVID-19 vaccine could be useful in persuading some hesitaters to become takers.