Faith, Family, and Public Health: Exploring Vaccine Choices in Black Communities
Examining vaccine hesitancy in Black communities through the lenses of trust, faith, and individual autonomy.
In 2021, ClearView Research conducted a study to dive deeper into the factors behind public health compliance, particularly in the context of COVID-19. One of the most glaring issues it highlighted was vaccine hesitancy, rooted in long-standing distrust within Black communities. For example, our 2020 report for the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights found that 75% of Black people in the UK don’t believe their human rights are equally protected compared to their white counterparts. Even more concerning, over 60% felt their health wasn’t equally safeguarded by the NHS, with Black women feeling this disparity more strongly than men.
This distrust was further echoed in a qualitative study by Oladipo (2021), where Black African church leaders voiced scepticism “that the government was out for the best interest in the health of Black people.”
Exploring Vaccine Choices and Distrust
Against this backdrop, our project is a unique opportunity to explore not just why some people didn’t take the vaccine, but also why some who didn’t trust it chose to get vaccinated anyway—or decided to stop after the first dose. There’s a complex web of reasons, often linked to a deeper mistrust of healthcare systems, with community leaders, faith figures, and even parents playing crucial roles in shaping these attitudes.
We wanted to understand how much influence faith, cultural identity, and parental figures had on vaccine decisions within Black communities. We engaged 11 participants through focus groups and collected over 59 survey responses, all based in London Boroughs of Southwark and Lambeth. While this isn't a large enough sample to make sweeping generalisations, it does offer important insights into the perceptions at play.
Key insights from our research:
One of the standout findings was the general level of mistrust in the COVID-19 vaccines. Participants noted that communication around the vaccines—particularly when it came to side effects—only deepened their scepticism. Stories of complications within their communities had a powerful ripple effect, reducing confidence in both the vaccines and healthcare systems overall.
Interestingly, when it came to deciding whether or not to take the vaccine, participants often weighed the decision against what they stood to miss out on—like travelling—rather than focusing on the vaccine’s health benefits, such as immunity.
For those opting out of vaccines altogether, many leaned towards alternative health options or simply believed their personal health was strong enough. Hearing about adverse effects experienced by people they knew also reinforced this stance.
The Role of Faith Leaders and Parents
Faith leaders are highly respected in Black communities, but when it came to vaccine decisions, participants made it clear they preferred to do their own research. While open to their leaders' opinions, they ultimately wanted to make autonomous choices.
Parents, on the other hand, had a stronger influence. Even among adults, parental belief systems subtly shape whether people choose to get vaccinated or avoid it altogether.
Final Thoughts
This study highlights a crucial point: While faith leaders hold a special place in Black communities, their influence on health decisions, particularly around COVID-19, is limited. The participants were clear—they want to make their own informed choices, which often come from a place of deep-rooted mistrust in wider systems. This highlights and may represent the level of influence these leaders have on members of the Black community within this age range. These participants had a high reliance on their autonomy to make decisions about their health and therefore a decision to take or not take the COVID-19 vaccine.
While this study primarily focused on participants aged 18 to 35, it provides a valuable snapshot into the attitudes and decision-making processes of younger members of the Black community. Future research could expand on this by exploring perspectives across different age groups, offering an even broader understanding of the factors influencing vaccine decisions.