Community Developed Technology-Based Messaging to Increase SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Uptake Among People Who Inject Drugs

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Project Summary/Abstract People who inject drugs (PWID) experience disproportionate risk of being infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Unfortunately, due to stigma, fear of mistreatment, and other factors, PWID are far less likely to be vaccinated compared to other populations. African American and Latino populations also face disproportionate risk of infection and far greater COVID-19 death rates compared to White populations, yet due to issues including longstanding medical mistrust are also far less likely to vaccinate. For African American and Latino PWID, COVID-related risks increase even further and vaccination becomes even more unlikely. In response, we propose to continue our collaboration with New York Harm Reduction Educators (NYHRE) a prominent New York City community based organization serving African American and Latino PWID. To increase SARS-CoV-2 vaccination among our target population, we will first assemble a community advisory board (CAB) that we will consult at all phases of the project, then conduct a series of qualitative interviews (n=20) to better understand barriers to testing and vaccination among PWID, and how we can potentially address these via technology-based messaging. We will then work with our CAB and additional PWID participants (n=30) to iteratively develop, evaluate, and refine intervention video and text message content in English and Spanish. Next, we will recruit a separate sample of PWID (n=500) via respondent driven sampling to evaluate these newly created intervention materials as part of a clinical trial. Upon enrollment, participants will be offered a free vaccination against SARS-CoV-2. To increase the rigor of our trial, we will only provide our intervention materials to participants who do not accept vaccination when offered (based on current rates of PWID vaccination against influenza we expect the overwhelming majority will decline). Those who do not initially vaccinate will be randomized into one of two intervention groups: a no video group, and a video text group. The no video group will receive weekly text messages designed to address barriers to vaccination identified in formative research. The video text group will receive the same texts, along with links to videos we develop with NYHRE staff and clients to address barriers to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. Our intervention will track response rates in both groups. Primary outcome measures will be vaccination within the initial weeks following enrollment and the subsequent intervention period by treatment group. Additional outcomes will include vaccination rates by demographic, including race/ethnicity and primary language (i.e. do English speaking participants respond differently to specific intervention components compared to monolingual Spanish speakers). If shown successful this approach can be replicated with additional populations that experience health disparities, and in different languages across the United States.