Race, trust, and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Canada (alternate title: Racial Concentration and Dynamics of COVID-19 Vaccination

A large body of literature has suggested that vaccine hesitancy is higher among racialized populations. In this article, I consider racial disparities in COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and the role of institutional trust. Analyzing data from a nationally representative survey studying the social impacts of COVID-19 across Canada, I find that compared to white Canadians, only Black Canadians show a significant higher COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and about 15% of the Black-white gap can be attributed to their lower institutional trust. My additional analysis further shows that low trust among Black Canadians explains fully their unwillingness to do what the government recommends about vaccines. Findings of this study suggest that efforts toward addressing systemic racism and promoting institutional trust are key to tackling the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy among racialized communities.