Combating COVID-19:
Investigating Vaccine Hesitancy and Communication Practices Among Healthcare Providers and Patients in Local New Jersey Communities
Co-PIs: Matthew Matsaganis, Lauren Feldman, James Scott Parrott, Greg Porumbescu, & Riva Touger-Decker
Even as COVID-19 vaccination rates accelerate in the U.S., minority communities remain under-vaccinated, due to both vaccine hesitancy and barriers to access. This project focuses on the role that healthcare providers play in encouraging vaccination within the communities they serve, by investigating vaccine perceptions and communication practices among healthcare providers and residents in Newark, New Jersey. Whereas most research on vaccination uptake is conducted at the national level, this project addresses the community level, in order to understand local factors that affect vaccine perceptions and access and, in turn, inform strategies to improve provider-patient communication and, ultimately, vaccine equity