Faculty Receive Grant to Assess COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake in Sexual and Gender Minorities

Rutgers School of Public Health dean, Perry N. Halkitis, and Center for Health, Identity, Behavior and Prevention Studies deputy director, Kristen D. Krause, have received a grant from the Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA (known as MSD outside the United States and Canada) Investigator Studies Program (MISP) to examine COVID-19 and HPV vaccine uptake in sexual and gender minority populations living in New Jersey. 

Halkitis and Krause will use the grant to determine how medical mistrust and vaccine hesitancies – including both specific and generalized – impact vaccine uptake to develop a strategy to increase vaccination and improve health outcomes. 

Their work will also assess how these patters emerge within subpopulations of LGBTQ+ people, who too often are treated as a monolith, as evidenced by Halkitis’ and Krause’s scholarly portfolio, which demonstrates that many medical providers are poorly prepared to deliver effective care to LGBTQ+ people.

“Vaccine hesitancy is prevalent among sexual and gender minorities, including people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer, due to discrimination by healthcare professionals and an inadequately prepared healthcare workforce,” says Halkitis, who is also the founder and director of the Center for Health, Identity, Behavior and Prevention Studies.

COVID-19 has magnified health disparities among sexual and gender minorities, even with the availability of several safe and tested vaccines. 

“Observed with the HPV vaccine, factors like chronic marginalization and inadequate messaging, led to low uptake. It’s imperative to address COVID-19 vaccine uptake trends and compare them to those of HPV to address the disproportionate impact that SaRS-CoV2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has on these people and populations,” adds Halkitis.

According to the researchers, LGBTQ+ people and populations are more vulnerable to the virus and its effects, due to higher rates of smoking and compromised immune systems, resulting from higher rates of chronic conditions like HIV. These individuals also makeup a large proportion of the frontline workforce – working jobs in the service and food industries – which places them at higher risk for getting COVID-19.

“This research will allow us to collect and analyze new data on vaccination attitudes and hesitation among sexual and gender minorities through a lens that incorporates the intersection of identity, health communication, and preconceived notions, to suggest strategies for working with the population,” says Krause, who is also an instructor at the Rutgers School of Public Health.

“Hearing directly from individuals will help us better understand their sentiment and allows us to not only positively impact public health and health education initiatives, but more importantly, better serve the needs of this population so they can live healthier lives,” she concludes. 

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