With state vaccination rates slowing, and guidelines on mask wearing and social gatherings changing, the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
(CHPR) has released new data from the 2021 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS)
that sheds light on Californians’ views on getting the vaccine and following
suggested safety protocols.
The
2021 CHIS COVID-19 Preliminary Estimates Dashboard, which uses CHIS 2021
survey data collected during the months of March and April, introduces
questions on risk reduction behaviors such as frequency of wearing face coverings,
hand-sanitizing or washing, and whether respondents practiced physical
distancing or gathered with people who weren’t in their household. The survey
also continued to ask about whether they would get the vaccine and if they had
already received at least one dose. Personal impact questions, such as whether
respondents lost their job or had difficulties paying for rent or mortgage and
basic needs were also asked.
“Policymakers, health experts, community organizations,
researchers, and others look to the California Health Interview Survey for
credible and comprehensive data on the health of Californians. Last year, for
the first time in CHIS history, we released preliminary survey estimates, looking at COVID-19 testing and personal and financial impacts of the
pandemic. This year's findings, in addition to personal and financial impacts, explore vaccination status and risk reduction behaviors,” said Ninez A. Ponce,
PhD, MPP, director of UCLA CHPR and CHIS principal investigator. “Following
various safety precautions is a vital part of the state’s recovery from
COVID-19, so the information provided can help groups who are trying to
increase vaccination rates, give financial assistance, or simply access
resources on staying healthy as we make our way out of this pandemic.”
Key
findings include:
Risk
reduction behaviors
More
than half of California adults said they did gather with people outside of
their household when the state guidelines were still in effect. 53.1%
of adults said they gathered with individuals not living in their household in
the past 30 days, including 53.6% of adults who said they would not get
the vaccine.
More
than 1 in 5 California adults said they never or sometimes followed state
guidelines. Nearly 4 in 5 or
78.9% of adults said they always or usually followed state and local guidelines
regarding gatherings with persons not living in their households in the past 30
days, while more than 1 in 5 or 21.1% of adults sometimes or never did.
Adults
who would not get the vaccine were less likely to follow state and local
guidelines. Among adults who said they would not get the
vaccine, nearly half (45.5%) reported that they “never”
or “sometimes” followed state and local guidelines when gathering with
persons not living in their household, more than twice the noncompliance rate
reported among adults who would get the vaccine or who had already received at
least one dose of the vaccine. Adults
who said they would not get the vaccine were also less likely (68.6%) to say
they “always” wore a mask when they left their home during the statewide mask
mandate than adults who had received at least one dose of the vaccine or
planned to receive the vaccine (86.9% and 87.2%, respectively).
Vaccine
attitudes
More
than 1 in 10 adults (12%) stated that they would not get the vaccine.
Adults in the
Northern/Sierra and San Joaquin regions were more likely to report that they
would not get the vaccine at 20.6% and 20.5%, respectively.
There
were differences among racial and ethnic groups on whether they would get
vaccinated. Groups that reported the highest rates of being
unwilling to get the vaccine were Blacks (22.1%), multiracial adults (21.1%)
and Latinos (13.6%). *American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) data are not reported due to small sample size.
The
poorest adults were more likely to report that they would not get the vaccine,
compared to adults with the highest income levels.
18.1% of adults with incomes of 0–99% of the federal poverty level (FPL) said they
would not get the vaccine, compared to 9.4% of adults with incomes at or above
300% FPL.
Adults
with a high school degree or less than a high school degree were more likely to
report that they would not get the vaccine, compared with adults who had higher
educational attainment. 15.7% of adults with less than a high
school degree and 18.3% with a high school degree said they would not get the
vaccine, compared to adults with a bachelor’s degree (7.7%) or a graduate
degree (3.2%).
COVID-19
testing and treatment
Latinos
were more likely than whites to ever receive a positive test result for
COVID-19. 25% of Latinos ever received a positive test
compared to 7.7% of white people.
Adults
with the lowest incomes were more than twice as likely as those with highest
incomes to ever test positive for COVID-19. 25.1% of
adults under the federal poverty level (FPL) ever received a positive test
result for COVID-19, compared to 12.0% of those with incomes at 300% FPL or
higher.
Uninsured
adults were more likely to have a positive test result.
24.8% of uninsured adults ever received a positive test result for COVID-19,
compared to 14.2% of those with health insurance.
Individuals
with health insurance were twice as likely to contact a health professional
when they thought they had COVID-19. Nearly two-thirds
(62.0%) of adults with health insurance contacted a health professional when
they thought they had COVID-19, whereas only one-third (31.3%) of uninsured
adults did so.
“Whether
looking at different racial and ethnic groups, or other demographic factors
such as income, education, or geographic region, we continue to see disparities
among COVID-19 impacts especially after the winter 2020–2021 case surge. By
staying on the pulse of the latest numbers, we can inform policymakers, program
officials, community organizations, and advocates on actionable data to bridge
the gap in needs and services for every group to fulfill our mission to
equity,” said Todd
Hughes, CHIS director.
UCLA
CHPR is continuously updating tracking dashboards that look at COVID-19
infection and death rates across racial and ethnic groups, as well as data
across various health and socioeconomic factors. These include the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI)
COVID-19 Data Policy Lab Dashboard, COVID-19 Rates and Risk Factors by California
County Dashboard, and the COVID-19 Rates and Risk Factors by California
County Data Table.
The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (CHPR) is one of the nation’s leading health policy research centers and the premier source of health policy information for California. UCLA CHPR improves the public’s health through high quality, objective, and evidence-based research and data that informs effective policymaking. It is the home of the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) and is part of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.