The Relationship between Health Literacy and COVID-19 Vaccination Prevalence during a Rapidly Evolving Pandemic and Infodemic

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Iris Feinberg, Georgia State University; Jane Scott, Emory University; David Holland, Emory University; Rodney Lyn, Georgia State University; Lia C Scott, Georgia State University; Kevin M Maloney, Georgia State University; Richard Rothenberg, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2022-12-01
• Publisher: MDPI
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2022 by the authors.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10121989
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: VACCINES
• Volume: 10
• Issue: 12
• Grant/Funding Information: This project was supported by funds made available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Center for State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Support, under CDC OT21-2103.
• Keywords: COVERAGE; COVID-19 vaccine prevalence; vaccine hesitancy; Medicine, Research & Experimental; PUBLIC-HEALTH; Science & Technology; infodemic; health literacy; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Immunology; Research & Experimental Medicine
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery

Abstract

The gap between how health information is communicated and what people understand and can use to make informed health decisions is called health literacy. This gap was exacerbated by the rapidly changing and excessive volume of information, misinformation, and disinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic. People with lower health literacy may not have understood the importance of COVID-19 vaccination for themselves or for their communities. Our aim was to understand health literacy levels within Fulton County, Georgia, and their relationship to vaccine prevalence. Fulton county residents ages 18 and over (n = 425) completed an on-line Health Literacy Questionnaire. Individual, organizational, functional, interactive, and critical health literacy scales were created. Vaccination prevalence data were collected from the Georgia Vaccine Distribution Dashboard. All data were divided into one of three county areas. There were statistically significant variations in vaccine prevalence χ2(3) = 29.325, p < 0.001 among the three county areas. All levels of health literacy predicted overall county vaccination prevalence F (4,420) = 85.941, p < 0.001, There were significant differences in health literacy levels among two of the three county area pairs; the lowest resourced county area had the lowest vaccination prevalence and health literacy rates. This is the first example of relating direct health literacy measures across a major metropolitan US county with vaccine prevalence data.