Religious Traditions Exhibit Heterogeneous Effects on Vaccination Uptake: A U.S. County-Level Regression Analysis Supporting Tailored Health Outreach

American Journal of Preventative Medicine

Anderson, Cory, Shuai Zhou, and Guangqing Chi. 2026.

70(1):108139.

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Uses U.S. Religion Census 2020 to predict religious COVID-19 vaccination rates at the county level; denominations are aggregated into Mainline Protestant, Evangelical Protestant, Catholic, Mormon, Black Protestant, and Muslim.
Evangelical Protestant presence in counties was associated with lower COVID-19 vaccination rate
Catholic and Mainline Protestant presence in counties were associated with higher COVID-19 vaccination rates.
Other religious traditions showed no significant associations.
“Religion” itself has much variation in medical behaviors. Health service providers should adjust their strategies in response to ideological and institutional organization of religious groups when partnering on community health efforts.

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Contributions to the 2010 U.S. Religion Census: Religious Congregations and Membership Survey.

2010 U.S. Religion Census: Religious Congregations and Membership Survey. Kansas City, MO: Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies.
Grammich, Clifford, Kirk Hadaway, Richard Houseal, Dale Jones, Alexei Krindatch, Richie Stanley, and Richard Taylor. 2012.

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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.

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