In an Oct. 27 webinar presented by HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research, HUD announced the results of a Census Bureau Household Pulse survey that gathered data of COVID-19 vaccine status among persons living in public and assisted housing. The Household Pulse Survey is designed to quickly and efficiently deploy data collected on how people’s lives have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. HUD cross-checked the survey data with its own administrative data to verify which survey respondents were HUD-assisted households and their demographics.

HUD staff reiterated findings from an earlier report describing the correlation of characteristics of people most at risk of COVID and HUD residents. Compared to non-HUD-assisted renter peers, HUD-assisted renters are more likely to be older; to have underlying medical conditions; be part of certain racial and ethnic groups that have higher risks for COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and death; and have greater vaccine access challenges such as lacking Internet, lacking transportation, and/or having a disability.

The survey found that the overall vaccination rate among HUDassisted adults was appproximately 68 percent. Ninety percent of HUD-assisted residents 62+ are fully vaccinated and 55 percent of 18-to-40-year-old HUD renters are fully vaccinated. Also, 20 percent of HUD-assisted renters have been told by a doctor or other healthcare pprovider they had COVID-19. According to the presentation, several significant factors impact vaccine acceptance among HUD-assisted households. These include age, income, education level, health insurance status, employment status, and household size. For example, the survey found that 86 percent of HUD-assisted renters with household income above $50,000 were fully vaccinated, while only 67 percent of such households with incomes below $25,000 are.

Also, for HUD-assisted residents who haven’t been vaccinated because of vaccine hesitancy, the five most common reasons were: concerns about possible side effects, plans to wait and see if it’s safe, distrust of COVID-19 vaccines, don’t know if a vaccine will protect me, and don’t trust the government.