Fig 1.
COVID-19 vaccine receipt and intent among US adults by month (January-May, 2021).
Vaccine hesitancy decreased among adults each month from January to May, mostly due to a decrease in the response, “probably not” (-7.1 percentage points (%) [95% CI -7.2, -6.9]) versus “definitely not” (-1.8% [95% CI -1.9, -1.7]).
Fig 2.
COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy by race/ethnicity (ages 18–34 yearsa), education level, US region and county Trump vote share in the 2020 presidential election among US adults by month (January-May, 2021).
Between January and May, the gap in percent hesitant between race/ethnicity groups among adults 18–34 years (panel A) and education levels among all ages (panel B) decreased, with the biggest decreases among the most hesitant groups (e.g., Black race and ≤high school education, respectively). Changes in percent hesitant over time were fairly similar across US regions (panel C); however, there was a slightly smaller decrease in the Mountain region and slightly larger decrease in the South versus other regions. The gap in percent hesitant by county political environment, quantified in quartiles of percent Trump vote share in the 2020 presidential election, increased slightly between January and May, with the most hesitant group (highest quartile) having the smallest decrease (panel D). a There was a significant interaction between race/ethnicity group and age group. Vaccine hesitancy for all race/ethnicity groups by all age groups is provided in S6 Table.
Table 1.
COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in May 2021 by demographics among US adults (N = 525,644).
Table 2.
COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in May 2021 by political/ COVID-19 environment, health status, beliefs and behaviors among US adults (N = 525,644).
Fig 3.
COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy by age group, stratified by race/ethnicity, among US adults, May 2021.
Differences in hesitancy by age (e.g., 18–24 year-olds versus 65–74 year-olds) were more pronounced in Blacks (RR = 7.26 [95%CI, 5.92, 8.61]) versus Whites (RR = 2.89 [95% CI 2.75, 3.04]) or other race/ethnicity groups. Asians had hesitancy <5% hesitancy in all age groups. Differences in hesitancy by race/ethnicity were more pronounced in younger adults and adults ≥75 years.
Table 3.
Reasons for not getting the COVID-19 vaccine in May, 2021, by vaccine intent level among US adults (N = 87,984)a.