Factors Associated with COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among Visible Minority Groups from a Global Context: A Scoping Review

Vaccine hesitancy is one of the top ten greatest threats to global health. During the COVID-19 era, vaccine hesitancy poses substantial risks, especially in visible minorities, who are disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Although evidence of vaccine hesitancy exists, there is minimal focus on visible minorities and the reasons for hesitancy in this group are unclear. Identifying these populations and their reasons for vaccine hesitancy is crucial in improving vaccine uptake and curbing the spread of COVID-19. This scoping review follows a modified version of the Arksey and O’Malley strategy. Using comprehensive search strategies, advanced searches were conducted on Medline, CINAHL, and PubMed databases to acquire relevant articles. Full-text reviews using inclusion and exclusion criteria were performed to extract themes of vaccine hesitancy. Themes were grouped into factors using thematic qualitative analysis and were objectively confirmed by principal component analysis (PCA). To complement both analyses, a word cloud of titles and abstracts for the final articles was generated. This study included 71 articles. Themes were grouped into 8 factors and the top 3 recurring factors were safety and effectiveness of the vaccine, mistrust, and socioeconomic characteristics. Shedding light on these factors could help mitigate health inequities and increase overall vaccine uptake worldwide through interventions and policies targeted at these factors. Ultimately, this would help achieve global herd immunity.

Null effects of neighbourhood increases in visible minorities on radical right wing party mobilisation

In many European countries, a growing share of population with immigrant background coincides with the surge in support for radical right parties. In this paper we show how such increases affect radical right candidacy. We use Swedish register data which identifies political candidates. With geocoded data, we match individuals running for the Sweden Democrats to their local neighbourhood contexts, and measure changes in the share of visible minority residents at scales ranging from 100 meters to 2 kilometres. For those who stayed in the same neighbourhood between 2006 and 2010, the change in the share of visible minorities generally does not affect the decision to join the pool of party candidates. This result is robust when we introduce additional tests and select on the scale of the neighbourhood, unemployment terciles, change in share of visible minority groups terciles, and entry threshold into the pool of candidates. For those who stayed in the same neighbourhood, the only significant finding is a small mobilisation effect for a subsample of individuals who live in densely populated metropolitan neighbourhoods – here we also observe a halo effect, with negative association for small-scale changes and positive association for changes in the larger halo zone.

P.081 Epidemiology of Neurological and Cardiac Complications of COVID-19 among Ontario Visible Minorities: A Retrospective Study of Chinese and South Asian Canadians

Background: This is a population-based retrospective study of neurological and cardiac complications of COVID-19 among Ontario visible minorities: Chinese and South Asian Canadians Methods: From January 1, 2020 to September 30, 2020, using the last name algorithm, rates and types of cardiac and neurological complication of these two cohorts along with the general population in Ontario with COVID-19 were analysed by Institue of Clinical Evaluative Sciences. Results: Preliminary results show that Chinese-Canadians (N= 1,186) with COVID-19 are older with a mean age of 50.74 years old compared to general population (N= 42,547) of 47.57 years old (P< .001), while South Asians (N= 3,459) have a younger mean age of 42.08 years old (P< .001). Total cardiac and neurological complication rates, hospitalization rates and ICU admission rates are all higher for Chinese-Canadians while they are lower in South Asians and all achieving statistical significance (P < .001). Overall mortality rate is significantly higher for Chinese-Canadians at 8.1% vs 5.0% general population (P < .001). Conclusions: Chinese-Canadians with COVID-19 in Ontario were much older and have higher cardiac and neurological complication rates and overall mortality rate than the general population. These data have significant implications for proper prevention and appropriate management for these vulnerble elderly Chinese-Canadians.

Discrimination experienced by landed immigrants in Canada

Immigrants land in Canada with great hopes and multiple dreams, but the General Social Survey 2009 shows that one-fifth of them face discrimination in various situations once they have arrived. Ethnicity, race, language, and religion are the major grounds of discrimination. In this paper, the experiences of discrimination of landed immigrants are compared with those of non-immigrants. A logistic regression analysis is used on GSS data to predict the probability of facing discrimination based on the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of a person. Separate models are prepared for landed immigrants and non-immigrants. Results show that immigrants are much more likely to face discrimination than non-immigrants. Visible minorities and younger persons face higher levels of discrimination compared to non-visible minorities and older persons. Irrespective of their gender, household income, language, region of domicile, and number of evening activities, landed immigrants have similar chances of facing discrimination; whereas, for non-immigrants, these characteristics make a significant difference in their experiences of discrimination. Key Words: Discrimination, immigrant, race, ethnicity, and human rights.

The recruitment of women and visible minorities into Canadian police forces: Should we expect further progress?

The recruitment of women and minority group members was intended to move Canadian police forces towards societal representation and to enhance services provided to, and improve relations with, women and racially marginalized groups. This review contemplates progress towards these goals at a time of extraordinary public dissatisfaction with Western policing. A rationale is offered for reconsidering the 50% representation target for women and it is emphasized just how little we yet know about racial bias in policing. The review ends with a call for rigorous, apolitical, research to untangle the complex interactions underscoring the considered questions within.

Challenges of diversity and inclusion in defence emergency management and preparedness during the COVID-19 pandemic

Lay Summary The Canadian military’s recent mission in support of long-term-care homes in Ontario, and the alleged abuses reported, demonstrates the urgent need to address challenges associated with diversity and inclusion in defence emergency man-agement and preparedness during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This article reviews the social and health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on diverse groups within the Canadian Defence Team and across Canada, with a particular focus on visible minorities, Indigenous people, women, older adults, persons with disabilities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, and two-spirit communities. The review indicates that the pandemic widened the existing physical and mental health disparities and socio-economic inequities affecting these groups. To address these challenges, and to better understand the needs of diverse groups in the pandemic context, several recommendations for the Defence Team are proposed to incorporate into daily encounters with diverse groups and communities affected by COVID-19. The recommendations are designed to enable the Defence Team to establish positive and sustainable relations with diverse communities and to increase community resilience and defence emer-gency operational readiness.

Geographical concentration of COVID-19 cases by social determinants of health in 16 large metropolitan areas in Canada - a cross-sectional study

Background: There is a growing recognition that strategies to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission should be responsive to local transmission dynamics. Studies have revealed inequalities along social determinants of health, but little investigation was conducted surrounding geographic concentration within cities. We quantified social determinants of geographic concentration of COVID-19 cases across sixteen census metropolitan areas (CMA) in four Canadian provinces. Methods: We used surveillance data on confirmed COVID-19 cases at the level of dissemination area. Gini (co-Gini) coefficients were calculated by CMA based on the proportion of the population in ranks of diagnosed cases and each social determinant using census data (income, education, visible minority, recent immigration, suitable housing, and essential workers) and the corresponding share of cases. Heterogeneity was visualized using Lorenz (concentration) curves. Results: Geographic concentration was observed in all CMAs (half of the cumulative cases were concentrated among 21-35% of each city's population): with the greatest geographic heterogeneity in Ontario CMAs (Gini coefficients, 0.32-0.47), followed by British Columbia (0.23-0.36), Manitoba (0.32), and Québec (0.28-0.37). Cases were disproportionately concentrated in areas with lower income, education attainment, and suitable housing; and higher proportion of visible minorities, recent immigrants, and essential workers. Although a consistent feature across CMAs was concentration by proportion visible minorities, the magnitude of concentration by social determinants varied across CMAs. Interpretation: The feature of geographical concentration of COVID-19 cases was consistent across CMAs, but the pattern by social determinants varied. Geographically-prioritized allocation of resources and services should be tailored to the local drivers of inequalities in transmission in response to SARS-CoV-2's resurgence.

Ethno-racial Disparities In Canada’s Labour Market: The Case Of Recent Graduates

This study explores the labour market outcomes of recent-graduate visible-minorities who did not obtain any non-Canadian educational credentials, of any level, prior to their graduation (e.g. “generation 1.5+”). Using the 2013 National Graduates Survey, which surveyed those who graduated from Canadian public-postsecondary institutions in the 2009-2010 academic year, this study assesses the incomes and (un)employment statuses of Canada’s four largest ethno-racial groups—Whites, South Asians, Chinese, and Blacks. Approximately 93% of the subsample under analysis is Canadian-born. The results show that, amongst those who held a full-time job at the time of the survey, the visible-minority subgroups do not experience any earnings penalties versus their White counterparts (by gender)—but rather some subgroups show earnings premiums. However, some visible-minority subgroups, such as the South Asian males, show substantially higher odds of being unemployed versus their White counterparts (by gender). Limitations and implications are discussed.