Trust in information sources during the COVID-19 pandemic and its association with vaccine trust among a sample of Hispanic adults

Background

Public response to the COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of trust, particularly among minority populations. Several factors might affect vaccine safety trust, including source trustworthiness. Using data from the Puerto Rico Community Engagement Alliance, we assessed the association between trust in information sources and the COVID-19 vaccine in a sample of Hispanic adults.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey-based study was conducted from November 2021 to March 2022. Participants were telephone-interviewed to assess sociodemographic, clinical, and COVID-19-related variables. Vaccine trust was assessed by how confident respondents were regarding COVID-19 vaccine safety. Trust in COVID-19 information sources was assessed by asking respondents how much they trusted selected sources of information to provide accurate information about COVID-19, including the US and Puerto Rico governments, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), health care professionals, and traditional media (television/radio/newspaper/internet). Logistic regression models estimated the odds ratio (OR, 95% CI) of COVID-19 vaccine trust based on trust in information sources.

Results

A total of 200 adults aged ≥21 years completed the telephone interview. While most of the study sample (97.5%) had been inoculated with at least 1 dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, 86% trusted in the COVID-19 vaccine’s safety. After adjusting for age and sex, participants who attested greater trust in their health care professionals (odds ratio [OR] = 1.99, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.71, 5.62), the US government (OR = 2.44, 95% CI = 0.69, 8.68), and the CDC (OR = 8.18, 95% CI = 2.97, 22.57) reported increased vaccine trust as compared to those not having great confidence in these entities.

Conclusion

These findings support that trust in information provided by the CDC is positively associated with COVID-19 vaccine trust. Acknowledging predictors of trust regarding COVID-19 vaccination could help address factors that affect vaccine confidence. In turn, it strengthens COVID-19 prevention efforts, benefiting common welfare, reducing health disparities, and aiding underserved populations.