Gay and lesbian adults in the United States have higher COVID-19 vaccination rates than heterosexual adults, health officials said Thursday.
According to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, lesbians and gay men age 18 and older reported higher vaccination coverage overall (85.4%) than their heterosexual counterparts (76.3%), whose rates were similar to those of bisexual adults (76.3%) and transgender adults (75.7%)
Additionally, gay and lesbian adults were also more likely to trust in the efficacy of the potentially life-saving shots than heterosexual adults.
When it comes to “confidence in vaccine safety,” 76.3% of gay or lesbian adults said they felt either “completely” or “very” confident with the shots; while 63.9% of heterosexual adults said they felt that way.
When asked whether vaccines were “very” or “somewhat” important to protect against COVID-19, 91% of lesbian and gay adults agreed with that statement. Comparatively, 80% of heterosexual adults said they felt the same way.
According to CDC researchers — who used data from the National Immunization Survey Adult COVID Module collected between Aug. 29 and Oct. 30, 2021 for the survey — LGBTQ people “have higher prevalences of health conditions associated with severe COVID-19 illness compared with non-LGBT populations.”
The potential for low vaccine confidence and coverage among LGBTQ adults is especially concerning since the CDC recommends COVID-19 vaccination to prevent serious illness and death from the disease — and LGBTQ people in the U.S. “historically experience challenges accessing, trusting, and receiving health care services.”
“Understanding COVID-19 vaccination coverage and confidence among LGBT populations, and identifying the conditions under which disparities exist, can help tailor local efforts to increase vaccination coverage,” the authors wrote.
“Adding sexual orientation and gender identity to national data collection systems would be a major step toward monitoring disparities and developing a better-informed public health strategy to achieve health equity for the LGBT population,” they added.
