Concerns about COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among Law Enforcement Officers: Prevalence and Risk Factor Data from a Nationally Representative Sample in the United States

• NCJ Number: 308068
• Journal: Vaccines Volume: 11 Issue: 4 Dated: 2023
• Date Published: March 2023
• Author(s): Bruce G. Taylor; Elizabeth A. Mumford; Alejandra M. Kaplan; Weiwei Liu
• Length: 19 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2018-R2-CX-0026; 2016-IJ-CX-0021
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)

Annotation

This study examined COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among law enforcement officers.

Abstract

This paper’s goal was to address this gap in research on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among law enforcement officers by providing the necessary data to better under hesitancy to guide training and policy interventions for officers. The study found that 40% of officers were COVID-19 vaccine hesitant. The study also found that officers with higher education, older officers, officers with more law enforcement experience, officers who received recent health checkups, and commanders (compared to line officers) were less likely to be COVID-19 vaccine hesitant. Critically, officers working in law enforcement agencies that provided masks for COVID-19 protection were less likely to be COVID-19 vaccine hesitant (compared to agencies not providing masks).The objective was to conduct the first nationally representative survey of officers on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and its correlates. The authors collected data from February 2021 to March 2022 on officer COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and examined their responses in terms of sociodemographic factors, health status, and job characteristics. Ongoing research is needed to understand how evolving attitudes and barriers toward vaccination change over time for officers and to test messaging to better align officers with health guidelines. (Published Abstract Provided)