Racial and ethnic and income disparities in COVID‐19 vaccination among Medicare beneficiaries.

COVID-19; CONFIDENCE intervals; COVID-19 vaccines; HISPANIC Americans; RACE; INCOME; SOCIOECONOMIC factors; SURVEYS; ETHNIC groups; HEALTH equity; LOGISTIC regression analysis; ODDS ratio; MEDICARE; INSURANCE

Background: Older adults have been disproportionately affected by the COVID‐19 pandemic. Despite the widespread availability and proved effectiveness of COVID‐19 vaccines, the issue of inequity in vaccine uptake in the United States is a potential concern among different populations. This study examined racial and ethnic and income disparities in COVID‐19 vaccination rate among Medicare beneficiaries. Methods: Data from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) COVID‐19 Winter 2021 Community Supplement were employed (n = 9606 Medicare beneficiaries, weighted N = 50,512,963). We fitted a logistic regression model to determine the association of vaccination status with beneficiary race and ethnicity and income, after controlled for a set of beneficiary characteristics. Results: Compared with non‐Hispanic White respondents, Hispanic respondents (OR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.54–0.96, p = 0.02) and Black respondents (OR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.67–1.04, p = 0.11) were less likely to receive COVID‐19 vaccine. In addition, the likelihood of COVID‐19 vaccine uptake for beneficiaries who earn less than $25,000 per year was more than 50% lower than that for those whose annual income was $25,000 or more (OR = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.37–0.53, p < 0.0001). Conclusions: Racial and ethnic and income disparities exist in COVID‐19 vaccination rate among Medicare beneficiaries nationally. Community‐based strategies to boost vaccine uptake may target racial and ethnic minorities and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups to reduce such disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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