Vaccine Hesitancy for LGBTQ+ People Affected by Previous Bad Experiences with Healthcare System
Tegan and Sara, award-winning musicians and founders of the Tegan and Sara Foundation, are sharing the results of their most recent healthcare survey to understand experiences with the COVID-19 vaccine within the LGBTQ+ community. The survey was developed by the Tegan and Sara Foundation in collaboration with health communications firm Entree Health and reviewed by researchers at SurveyMonkey, a leader in agile software solutions for customer experience, market research, and survey feedback, with contributions from physicians and healthcare experts specializing in LGBTQ+ healthcare.
Key findings include:
The LGBTQ+ population in the US is highly accepting of the COVID-19 vaccine
More than 2 in 3 respondents are already vaccinated
84% of the remainder want to get the COVID-19 vaccine “as soon as possible”
Gender minority people are more likely to want to get the vaccine as soon as possible, but are less likely to have already been vaccinated
Wanting to protect others is the most important reason LGBTQ+ people have gotten or will get vaccinated
Previous bad experiences with the healthcare system is an important driver for LGBTQ+ people who say they will wait to get vaccinated
Tegan and Sara, award-winning musicians and founders of TSF, said:
“We’re passionate about healthcare access for LGBTQ+ people, and always have been. As advocates, we have focused on healthcare because we see how access to quality and affirming care affects our community. Most studies aren’t asking queer people the questions that we need to get better care.”
“That’s why we launched the LGBTQ+ COVID-19 Vaccine Attitudes Study, to better understand the needs and concerns of our community on the pandemic and vaccine efforts. Without these perspectives, healthcare can’t truly be inclusive - which will have repercussions for a long time. We hope the readers of this study can use these results to make meaningful change in their own communities.”
Tegan and Sara and the Foundation encourage all members of the LGBTQ+ community and beyond to review the results of the survey, which can be accessed at the LINK.
Survey Background
COVID-19 has a unique impact on LGBTQ+ people and other marginalized communities (including people of color and rural communities). LGBTQ+ Americans are more likely to live in poverty and lack access to adequate medical care, paid medical leave, and basic necessities - all of these issues have been exacerbated by COVID-19.
The completely-confidential survey, developed with leading LGBTQ+ healthcare experts, was designed to be sensitive to the needs of the community. While current gender was asked in this survey, there was no question asking sex assigned at birth. These questions are often asked insensitively and create unnecessary barriers for gender nonconforming, nonbinary, and transgender people. The survey did include 17 gender and sexual orientation choices, including the option to write-in or choose not to disclose.
To obtain a holistic understanding of the queer community, TSF prioitized survey outreach and distribution to community-level organizations and underserved groups, to make sure that survey response included the diverse voices of the LGBTQ+ community. Key to this outreach was TSF’s Community Grants partners, which reach 39 grassroots organizations across the U.S. and Canada.
About Tegan and Sara Foundation
Tegan and Sara Foundation (TSF) was founded in 2016 by Tegan and Sara to address inequalities faced by LGBTQ+ women. TSF’s mission is improving the lives of LGBTQ+ women and girls. This mission is founded on a commitment to feminism and racial, social and gender justice. Learn more about TSF’s work and flagship programming at the OFFICIAL WEBSITE.
About Tegan and Sara
Tegan and Sara have openly identified as queer since the beginning of their career in 1998, and have been outspoken feminist advocates for LGBTQ+ equality and gender justice. The essential message that underpins their worldview and identity is inclusion. The Tegan and Sara Foundation is an extension of their work, identity and longstanding commitment to supporting and building progressive social change.
As musicians, Tegan and Sara have sold more than one million albums, and have received seven Gold certifications, one Double Platinum certification, three Juno Awards, two Polaris Prize nominations, and a Grammy nomination. They have performed on some of the world’s biggest stages, from the 2015 Oscar Telecast to major festivals such as Coachella, Lollapalooza and Glastonbury.
About Entrée Health
Entrée Health is a communications and medical strategy agency serving the life sciences industry and focused on the belief that people deserve access to the healthcare they need. It helps companies secure insurance coverage for their brands, communicate to physicians and patients about the coverage and financial aspects of biopharmaceuticals, and create materials that help overcome coverage hurdles. Entrée Health’s proprietary, integrated data enables them to optimize market access and value strategy and create award-winning communications for drug, device, and diagnostics manufacturers. Reducing the impact of health inequity is a key component of their work; Entree Health has partnered with the Tegan and Sara Foundation since 2018.