Karina Marquez The University of California, San Francisco associate professor of medicine is a strong believer in prevention. So she was delighted when U.S. and European health authorities approved the first vaccines for respiratory syncytial virus last year. RSV vaccine has the potential to reduce hospitalizations and deaths by thousands related to virus in America every year. But vaccines are only effective when they get into the hands of those who need them most. “It’s really important that people have equal access,” Marquez says. “Unequal access leads to unequal hospitalizations and deaths.”
Three vaccines are currently available in the U.S., GSK’s Alexvy and Moderna’s mRESVIA, approved for older adults, and Pfizer’s Abrisvo, approved for older adults and pregnant women, but there are already disparities in doses. . Hispanic and black seniors lag behind white seniors; According to the data From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC recommends RSV vaccination for everyone age 75 and older, but so far this year, only 19% of Hispanics in this age group have been vaccinated, and older whites 35% of older Americans, 31% of older Asians and 24% of older Black adults have been vaccinated.
This worries Marquez, who has seen how diverse access and access can be. confidence Covid-19 vaccines may worsen health outcomes latino americans and black americans In the middle of a pandemic. Although research on racial disparities in RSV infection is limited, research suggests RSV infects Latinos, blacks, and Native Americans at an earlier age than white Americans. “The time to act is now,” she says. “Especially given the mistrust and hesitancy that has arisen following the COVID-19 vaccination.”
Marquez will begin a five-year contract this October. National Institutes of Health research To study how best to encourage vaccination in a specific community: San Francisco’s Latino population. Preliminary data she collected from 300 survey participants last year found that while many people were interested in getting the RSV vaccine, there was also a “significant clamor for more information.”
It is essential to identify and address specific concerns about the RSV vaccine. “This is a new vaccine for older adults, so we need to understand the most effective approaches to increase uptake,” said Zuckerberg, head of the Division of HIV and Infectious Diseases at San Francisco General Hospital, which is supporting the study. says Diane Habria, “Vaccine uptake is most effective when tailored and delivered based on cultural norms and beliefs.”
Marquez’s research will expand on surveys that ask participants about specific demographic data as well as concerns about vaccine safety. “Latino communities are very diverse, and we need more disaggregated data to tailor interventions,” Marquez says. Characteristics such as language, length of stay in the U.S., whether you have insurance, and how you obtain health information can determine how you learn about vaccines. “It’s going to be important to think about social networks, especially the social networks of older people.”
Marquez hypothesizes that older Latinos may receive health information from family, friends, and community organizations more than from social media campaigns, which could be a useful tool for targeting younger communities. It’s standing up. The study seeks to determine whether grandchildren can encourage their grandparents to vaccinate, for example, based on past evidence that knowing someone personally who has been vaccinated is an effective motivator.
