Global Journal of Health Science; Vol. 15, No. 1; 2023 ISSN 1916-9736 E-ISSN 1916-9744 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education 34 No Booster for Us! An Understanding of HBCU Students’ COVID-19 Booster Vaccine Hesitancy Joonwoo Moon 1 , Julaine S. Rigg 2 , Janice E. Smith 1 & Jana Duckett 1 1 Department of Strategic Communication, Morgan State University, Maryland, United States of America 2 Business Administration, Morgan State University, Maryland, United States of America Correspondence: Dr. Joonwoo Moon, Department of Strategic Communication, Morgan State University, Maryland, United States of America. Tel: 1-443-885-1486. E-mail: joonwoo.moon@morgan.edu Received: November 4, 2022 Accepted: December 6, 2022 Online Published: December 9, 2022 doi:10.5539/gjhs.v15n1p34 URL: https://doi.org/10.5539/gjhs.v15n1p34 Abstract This exploratory study examines COVID-19 booster vaccine hesitancy among African American college students at a four-year Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in Maryland. Although limited in scope, this research has implications for students at other HBCUs because of the shared history and culture of the “Black experience” in the United States. The study was conducted using focus groups. Key findings lie in the areas of self-efficacy, gender, and health status couched in the context of African Americans’ generational distrust of government and science to serve their best interests. In terms of self-efficacy, the students stated by taking the initial vaccines, they had done enough to ward off severe COVID-19. A concern by gender was voiced about purported side effects of the vaccine experienced from the initial doses. Certainly, as with many young adults of all races, the students in the study had a sense of invincibility regarding their health. Overall, the findings indicate that government and health organizations need to work more purposively by listening to the young African Americans they seek to serve. This in turn could lead to the creation of more effective health messages to reach demographics and communities who view themselves as outliers from the larger society. Keywords: COVID-19, Vaccine Hesitancy, Booster Vaccine, Health Communication, Minority Health, HBCU 1. Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States has been uncovering severe health disparities in historically marginalized populations. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), racial minorities have higher rates of infection cases, hospitalization, and fatalities than White, non-Hispanic persons (CDC, 2022b). Moreover, minority groups have been hit hard by the pandemic, with 61% of African Americans concerned about the loss of income related to the current pandemic (NAACP, 2022). Although the U.S. government recommends everyone stays up to date with COVID-19 vaccines including boosters, COVID-19 booster vaccination rates for African American groups are still low (CDC, 2022c). As of March 30, 2022, only 38.8% of African Americans got the first dose of the booster and 22.7% got the second dose of the booster vaccination. The World Health Organization (WHO) describes vaccine hesitancy as “the reluctance or refusal to vaccinate despite the availability of vaccines – threatens to reverse progress made in tackling vaccine-preventable diseases” (WHO, 2019). There may be a variety of aspects that are responsible for the low rate of vaccination among African Americans. The first reason for vaccine hesitancy in African Americans may be government distrust. Multiple researchers reported that significantly more African Americans mistrusted the government, as compared to other racial and ethnic groups. (Hildreth & Alcendor, 2021; Purnell et al., 2022; Razai et al., 2021; Troiano & Nardi, 2021; Willis et al., 2021). Another reason may be misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines. Some African American adults still have a skeptical view about the effectiveness of the vaccines, and they also have a fear of negative side effects (Moye et al., 2021; Williams & Mohammed, 2013; Willis et al., 2021). The emerging literature on vaccine hesitancy has focused on the general concerns of vaccine hesitancy among historically marginalized populations, but only a few studies have focused on vaccine hesitancy in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Also, this research is the first attempt to explore COVID-19 booster vaccine hesitancy among students at HBCUs.