The price of ethnic marginalization: the peril of ethnic exclusion in times of public health crisis

Abstract Vaccine hesitant sentiments are reported among some ethnic and racial minority communities. This study argues that their vaccine hesitancy stems from distrust in the government that marginalizes them. Building on existing studies on ethnicity, health, and political trust, this study offers an original contribution by using causal mediation analyses to provide suggestive evidence of a mediating relationship between ethnic marginalization and vaccination intention and by focusing on African countries. We conduct causal mediation analyses of nationally representative survey data across 14 African countries and find that trust in government mediates the effect of perceived ethnic marginalization on COVID-19 vaccination intention. Perceived marginalization decreases government trust and thus reduces vaccination intention. The findings have implications beyond the pandemic era. A path dependent consequence of marginalization during non-crisis times hinders collective actions during crisis times. Governments must put efforts into combating ethnic marginalization during non-crisis times.