included worrying the vaccines were not tested enough and lacking trust in the vaccines and their proponents. ◼ About half of vaccine-hesitant adults (51 percent) trusted their health care providers for information about the vaccine. However, variation in how adults interact with the health care system across race, ethnicity, and political party affiliation suggests the need for targeted outreach strategies and tailored efforts by health care providers and other trusted community groups to better inform the public about the vaccines. Ending the pandemic through vaccination will require overcoming concerns about the vaccines and ensuring equitable access to them. 6 We find perceptions of the risks and benefits of getting vaccinated vary by race, ethnicity, and political party affiliation. A history of racial discrimination, medical abuses, and neglect by the health care system and government has shaped Black adults’ hesitancy toward vaccines for COVID-19 and seasonal flu (AHRQ 2020; Institute of Medicine 2003; Quinn et al. 2017; Sparks et al. 2020). 7 Other survey data suggest political differences in hesitancy and perceived COVID-19 risks date back to the early months of the pandemic and may partially relate to media consumption (Ruiz and Bell 2021). 8 i We use “Hispanic/Latinx” throughout this brief to reflect the different ways in which people self-identify. The US Census Bureau uses the term “Hispanic.” The terms “white” and “Black” refer to adults who do not identify as Hispanic or Latinx. C O N FR O NT I NG C 3 Though concerns about the COVID-19 vaccines are complex and multifaceted, most vaccinehesitant adults worried about side effects or wanted more information about long-term health risks. Clear and accurate information delivered through health care providers and other trusted messengers from the community may help those hesitant about the vaccines understand how their risks compare with the much greater risks of illness and death from COVID-19. More information on successful messaging strategies will be needed, particularly in communities with low take-up rates, as vaccine distribution accelerates. Results COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy by Race, Ethnicity, and Political Party Affiliation In December 2020, more than one-third of nonelderly adults reported they would probably not or definitely not get a COVID-19 vaccine. Nearly half of Black adults held this position, compared with about one-third of white and Hispanic/Latinx adults. More than one-third of nonelderly adults reported they would probably not (19 percent) or definitely not (16 percent) get a COVID-19 vaccine if it were available for free to everyone who wanted it (figure 1). As shown in appendix table 1, roughly another third of adults would definitely get vaccinated (34 percent), and the remaining third would probably get vaccinated (31 percent). Nearly half of Black adults (49 percent) and about one-third of white adults (34 percent) and Hispanic/Latinx adults (32 percent) reported they would probably not or definitely not get vaccinated (figure 1). However, differences by race and ethnicity varied across levels of willingness to get vaccinated: 28 percent of Black adults reported they would probably not get the vaccine, compared with 18 percent of white and Hispanic/Latinx adults. Differences by race and ethnicity were smaller among those who would definitely not get vaccinated: 21 percent of Black adults, compared with 16 percent of white adults and 14 percent of Hispanic/Latinx adults. Black adults were also less likely than white and Hispanic/Latinx adults to report they would definitely get a vaccine (17 percent versus 36 percent and 34 percent; appendix table 1). Overall, the results suggest almost two-thirds of Black adults had not made up their minds (i.e., probably would or would not get the vaccine), compared with about half of all adults. Though we highlight the substantial variation in the likelihood of getting vaccinated by race, ethnicity, and political party affiliation, it also varied by other characteristics. Vaccine hesitancy was relatively higher among women, adults ages 35 to 49, and people without chronic conditions, lacking a four-year college degree, with family incomes below 400 percent of the federal poverty level, or living in rural areas (appendix table 2). These vaccine-hesitancy patterns by demographic and socioeconomic characteristics align with those found in earlier studies (Funk and Tyson 2020; Hamel et al. 2021; Kreps, Prasad, and Brownstein 2020; Sparks et al. 2020; Szilagyi et al. 2020). Hesitancy to Get a COVID-19 Vaccine Varied by Race, Ethnicity, and Political Party Affiliation among Adults Ages 18 to 64 in December 2020 URBAN INSTITUTE Source: Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey, December 2020. Notes: Estimates are not shown for non-Hispanic/Latinx adults who are not Black or white or are more than one race and for adults who are independent, affiliated with a third party, or unaffiliated. We define vaccine-hesitant adults as those who would definitely not or probably not get a vaccine. Appendix table 1 shows estimates for all response categories: definitely would, probably would, probably would not, and definitely would not. Estimate differs significantly from the reference group (^) at the 0.10/0.05/0.01 level, using two-tailed tests. Though Black adults reported greater vaccine hesitancy for well-founded