Population-Wide Vaccination Hesitancy among the Amish: A County-Level Study of COVID-19 Vaccine Adoption and Implications for Public Health Policy and Practice

Population Research and Policy Review

Anderson, Cory, Shuai Zhou, and Guangqing Chi. 2023.

42(4):70.

Prior research suggests Amish tend to be broadly vaccine hesitant, distrustful of mainstream medicine, apprehensive about early measures to prevent COVID-19’s spread, and networked to non-Amish sharing similar misgivings
Analysis of county-level COVID-19 vaccination rates and Amish population percentages from the 10 most Amish-populated states finds that Amish populated counties had about 1.6% lower COVID-19 vaccination rates, suggesting the Amish are vaccine hesitant; political conservatism and income were also significant in expected directions
Amish population growth raises public health considerations especially in rural areas where any outbreak could strain local health infrastructure.
Popular positive representations of Amish may reduce pressure on them to vaccinate
Service providers/public health workers should approach Amish as rational decision-makers not necessarily detached from society and employ bottom-up change strategies rather than top-down