COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: misinformation and perceptions of vaccine safety.

Despite COVID-19's devastating toll, many Americans remain unwilling to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The authors conducted a US national survey to understand the health literacy of adults regarding the vaccine, as well as their COVID-19 beliefs and experiences. People who believed the COVID-19 vaccine was unsafe were less willing to receive the vaccine, knew less about the virus and were more likely to believe COVID-19 vaccine myths. On average, they were less educated, lower income, and more rural than people who believed the vaccine is safe. The results highlight the importance of developing clear health communications accessible to individuals from varied socioeconomic and educational backgrounds.

Hybrid warfare and public health: Conflicts in Ukraine and Nagorno-Karabakh raise the alarm.

Hybrid warfare strategies include weaponization of healthcare, the use of non-conventional weapons, and strategic displacement of civilian populations via direct targeting, sexual violence, disinformation campaigns, and disruption of essential services such as water, food, gas, and access to health services. All these actions harm public health. The current war in Ukraine and the 2020 Second Nagorno-Karabakh war between Azerbaijan and Armenia serve as vivid examples of the novel and devastating public health effects of hybrid warfare targeting civilians. The lessons learned from these conflicts should serve as a warning and a call to action. Politicians and public health officials should advocate for a comprehensive rethinking of previous measures to counteract the impacts of hybrid warfare. Concerted efforts and strategies to mitigate these impacts on public health at every phase are essential. De-escalation of conflicts should be facilitated, and civilian health should be prioritized by the global community by instituting a more punitive and comprehensive schema to both deter war and step-up penalties for the tactics of hybrid warfare. Failure to do so will undoubtedly result in this scenario being played out with greater frequency globally, erasing the public health wins of the previous century.

COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance and Beliefs among Black and Hispanic Americans.

The introduction of COVID-19 vaccines is a major public health breakthrough. However, members of US Black and Hispanic communities, already disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 virus, may be less willing to receive the vaccine. We conducted a broad, representative survey of US adults (N = 1,950) in order to better understand vaccine beliefs and explore opportunities to increase vaccine acceptance among these groups. The survey results suggested that Black and Hispanic individuals were less willing than Whites to receive the vaccine. US Blacks and Hispanics also planned to delay receiving the COVID-19 vaccine for a longer time period than Whites, potentially further increasing the risk of contracting COVID-19 within populations that are already experiencing high disease prevalence. Black respondents were less likely to want the COVID-19 vaccine at all compared with Whites and Hispanics, and mistrust of the vaccine among Black respondents was significantly higher than other racial/ethnic groups. Encouragingly, many Black and Hispanic respondents reported that COVID-19 vaccine endorsements from same-race medical professionals would increase their willingness to receive it. These respondents said they would also be motivated by receiving more information on the experiences of vaccine study participants who are of their own race and ethnicity. The results have implications for improved messaging of culturally-tailored communications to help reduce COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.