New Survey Reveals 46% Of Bronx Residents Will Take The Vaccine

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Published on February 26, 2021, 11:08 am
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The Think Tank at The Thinkubator under the leadership of Dr. Lessie Branch and The Bronx Community Foundation have conducted a study on the CoViD-19 Vaccine. The survey was conducted between February 11 – February 14, 2021 of 500 New York City residents utilizing SurveyMonkey’s powerful online survey platform. The survey sought to better understand respondents’ knowledge of the vaccine, where they received their information from, whether they would take the vaccine or not, and reasons for their decisions regarding the vaccine. The survey results revealed that 59% of New York City residents will take the vaccine.

Other findings:

  • 57% of respondents had a positive position on the vaccine and have significant information to make a decision about taking the vaccine while 15% had a negative view of the vaccine.
  • 58% report learning about the Covid-19 vaccine from the news while 18% indicated that social media is where they’ve learned about the vaccine.
  • 26% indicated that they would not take the vaccine even if required by their employer to work while 65% indicated that if their employer required the vaccination to physically attend work that they would take the vaccine.
  • When asked what factors are influencing your decision on whether you will take the vaccine or not? Respondents indicated
    • 46% family
    • 28% friends
    • 37% medical professional
    • 25% history of vaccinations
    • 36% Covid-19 infection and death rates
  • When asked what concerns did respondents have? 31% repondent the potential side effects of the vaccine while 24% did not have any concerns about the vaccine.

Results for Bronx residents reveal the following: 

  • 35% have a neutral opinion of the Covid-19 vaccine.
  • 54% believe they have enough information about the vaccine to make an informed decision.
  • 60% learned about the vaccine from the news.
  • 46.2% stated that they will take the Covid-19 vaccine.
  • A large portion of Bronxites stated that family and the Covid-19 infection and death rates are influencing their decisions about the vaccine.

The entire survey could be downloaded here.

“The results are interesting when comparing and contrasting the Bronx to the rest of New York City residents.” Said Dr. Edward Summers, President and CEO of The Thinkubator. “The Bronx residents have a higher hestiatation rate when asked whether they will take the vaccine or not. Roughly, 13% fewer Bronxites will take the vaccine compared to nearly 60% of New York City residents. This indicates that we need to continue to think about ways to provide factual information to Bronxites.”

500 New York City residents responded to the survey. Of those surveyed, 17% were from the Bronx, 25% from Manhattan, 23% from Queens, 24% from Brooklyn, and 8% from Staten Island. Survey respondents were 38% white, 20% Black, 17% identified as Hispanic, and 15% Asian. The respondents were largely democratic and christian or catholic. 53% were women and 47 as male. 62% of the respondents have a household income of under $75,000 per year.

Dr. Lessie Branch, Director of The Think Tank at The Thinkubator stated “There is a desperate need for transformational relationships and not simply transactional relationships to overcome the centuries of distrust of people of color in the government and the medical community.  Often as it relates to communities like the Bronx, the frame is one where management by crisis is the modus operandi. Things happen in a reactionary manner and the result is shortsighted policy leading to confusion and distrust. While in the instant case of CoViD-19 a reactionary response to creating a vaccine is the proper response, that Black and Brown folk, women and communities like the Bronx have been treated as mere transactions for so long and have not had the benefit of trusted and established relationships, there are fewer residents who express confidence in the CoViD-19 vaccine.  It is my hope that this can be a teachable moment where those who are in power can really extrapolate the importance of establishing meaningful community relationships as a way to advance public goods and positive public outcomes.”

Desmon Lewis, Co-Founder of The Bronx Community Foundation said “With The Bronx being the unhealthiest part of New York State, our residents have been severely impacted by CoViD-19. Although the Government moved swiftly in the creation of the vaccine, our community remains skeptical given previous government intervention in these types of situations. It is clear from the survey we executed that it is vitally important that Bronxites, and other residents across the City, are educated and continue to be given the information they need about the vaccine to ensure they could make an informed decision. We look forward to continuing to work in the community to support vaccine education for our Bronxites.”

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About The Think Tank at The Thinkubator

The Think Tank at The Thinkubator, launched by Dr. Lessie Branch, Associate Professor of Business at Metropolitan College of New York (MCNY), serves as a hub for rigorous academic, scholarly, and professional research that supports the documentation and evaluation of The Thinkubator activities, seeks to understand The Bronx as a contested, complex urban form, and addresses narratives of marginalized – Black, Brown, Female, and low-income communities. The Think Tank conducts research and analysis, provides youth with a platform to conduct and produce research, and produces policy briefs and reports for public discourse. The Think Tank is part of The Thinkubator, Inc. a bronx-based innovation and workforce development nonprofit organization. 

About The Bronx Community Foundation

The Bronx Community Foundation (Bx.C.F.) is the first and only community foundation in the Bronx, solely dedicated to delivering resources to the diverse, vibrant, and hard-working people of the borough. The foundation’s focus is on meeting the shared outcomes of increasing economic security, advancing inclusivity and sustainability, advocating for social, economic, environmental, and racial justice, increasing access to quality education, healthcare, strengthening community resiliency and vitality, accelerating innovation, and supporting generational change throughout. The Bx.C.F. takes a place-based strategic approach toward philanthropy. To make significant progress, the foundation works collaboratively with the community to help develop and advance a community-wide common agenda toward solving challenges. The Bronx Community Relief Effort, the foundation CoViD-19 program, supports effective, on-the-ground operations that are focused on meeting the most essential needs of the Bronx community. This includes filling gaps in public financing and broader grant programs.

For more information, please visit thebronx.org and helpforthebronx.org.

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Jonas Bronck is the pseudonym under which we publish and manage the content and operations of The Bronx Daily.™ | Bronx.com - the largest daily news publication in the borough of "the" Bronx with over 1.5 million annual readers. Publishing under the alias Jonas Bronck is our humble way of paying tribute to the person, whose name lives on in the name of our beloved borough.