Costly Miscommunication: College Students with Disabilities’ Perceptions of COVID-19 Vaccine Costs

Institutions of higher education have mandated COVID-19 vaccinations for students wishing to return to an on-campus, in-person learning experience. However, college students with disabilities (SWDs) may be hesitant to take a COVID-19 vaccine for a variety of reasons, possibly delaying or denying these students’ access to higher education. Yet, an under-researched aspect of COVID-19 vaccinations and related communication is whether college students with disabilities understand that the COVID-19 vaccine is free and whether that understanding varies by intersectional identities. As a result, this study’s research team surveyed 245 college students with disabilities to explore these students’ knowledge of vaccine costs and whether differences exist between groups. Data suggests many college students with disabilities do not know that COVID-19 vaccinations are free: White/Caucasian SWDs were most aware of COVID-19 vaccines being free (23.6%), while Latinx students were least aware (1.3%). Moreover, women were more aware of free COVID-19 vaccines (14.8%) than men (11.4%), first generation college students were more aware (15.6%) than non-first generation college students (12.2%), and full-time students (19%) were more aware than part-time students (8.9%). Overall, less than 25% of SWDs understood that COVID-19 vaccines are free. Implications for health communication, vaccine awareness, and higher education policy are addressed.