A racial gap has opened in the nation’s COVID-19 vaccination process, with black Americans in many places lagging behind whites in receiving shots, according to an Associated Press analysis.
An early look at the 17 states and two cities that launched racial defects by January 25 found that blacks everywhere are inoculated at levels below their share of the general population, in some cases significantly below.
This is true, even though they make up an oversized percentage of the nation’s health workers, who were put in front of the photo line when the campaign began in mid-December.
For example, in North Carolina, people of color make up 22% of the population and 26% of the health workforce, but only 11% of vaccine recipients so far. White people, a category in which the state includes both Hispanic and non-Hispanic whites, are 68% of the population and 82% of those vaccinated.
The gap is deeply worrying for some, given that the coronavirus has had a disproportionate effect in cases of severe illness and death on people of color in the United States, where the scourge has killed more than 430,000 Americans. Black, Hispanic, and Native American people die from COVID-19 nearly three times as many as white people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“We will see a widening and exacerbation of the racial health inequities that were here before the pandemic and worsened during the pandemic, if our communities cannot access the vaccine,” said Dr. Uché Blackstock, emergency physician in New York. York and CEO of Advancing Health Equity, an advocacy group that addresses prejudice and inequality.
Experts say several factors could lead to the emerging disparity, including deep distrust of the medical institution among black Americans because of a history of discriminatory treatment; inadequate access to the vaccine in black neighborhoods; and a digital divide that can make it difficult to obtain crucial information. Vaccine registrations are largely online.
“It’s frustrating and challenging,” said Dr. Michelle Fiscus, who leads the Tennessee vaccination program, which doubles the doses sent to severely affected rural counties but faces deep-seated mistrust among blacks in Tennessee.
“We need to work hard to rebuild that trust and vaccinate these people,” Fiscus said. “She is dying. They’re hospitalized. ”
Hispanic people also lagged behind in vaccinations, but their levels were somewhat closer to expectations in most places studied. Hispanics are on average younger than other Americans, and vaccinations have not yet been open to young people.
However, several states in which Hispanic communities have been particularly severely affected by COVID-19 have not yet reported data, especially California and New York.
President Joe Biden is trying to bring more fairness to the vaccine launch he inherited from the Trump administration. The Biden administration encourages states to map and target vulnerable neighborhoods using tools such as the CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index, which incorporates data on race, poverty, overcrowded housing, and other factors.
“We will take additional steps to reach the hardest to reach people, and that work is happening right now,” said Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, chair of the Biden COVID-19 equity task force.
Most states have not yet released racial data on who was vaccinated. Even in failing states, data are often incomplete, with many records lacking race details. However, the missing information would not be enough to change the big picture in most cases.
Data are from Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia, plus two cities, Philadelphia and Chicago.
The PA analysis found that whites are vaccinated at levels closer to or higher than expected in most of the states examined.
Initially, health care workers and nursing home residents were generally given priority for shooting in the United States.
In the last two weeks, many states have opened up their eligibility for a larger group of older people and more front-line workers, which could further depress the relative share of people of color being vaccinated. The nation’s population over the age of 65 is more white than other age groups.
Among the conclusions:
– In Maryland, blacks make up 30% of the population and 40% of the healthcare industry, but only 16% of those vaccinated so far. White people, who according to state data include both Hispanic and non-Hispanic whites, make up 55% of the population and 67% of those who received gunshots. Hispanics of any race make up 11% of the population and 5% of vaccine recipients.
– In Philadelphia, people of color are 40% of the population, but only 14% of people vaccinated in the city so far. Hispanics make up 15% of the population and 4% of vaccine recipients.
– In Chicago, blacks make up 30% of the population, but only 15% of those vaccinated. With Hispanics, the numbers are 29% compared to 17%.
The vaccination unit was slower and more affected than expected. Many Americans of all races have had trouble getting shots because supply is limited. In total, about 7% of Americans received at least one dose. But there are other issues that are slowing down vaccination among black Americans and other groups, experts said.
Some black neighborhoods did not sign up for anyone to take photos.
“What I’ve heard countless times: a lot of people of color want to get it from their doctor or their local clinic, because that’s where the trust is,” said Dr. Thomas Dobbs, Mississippi health officer. .
Louisiana uses the CDC tool to locate vulnerable neighborhoods without vaccination sites, then recruits new vaccinators in those neighborhoods, said Dr. Joseph Kanter, a state health officer.
Other strategies underway in some states: providing transportation so that people can reach their appointments and reach people through mobile vaccination units.
To address the mistrust, Thomas LaVeist, dean of the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at Tulane University in New Orleans, is recruiting notable black Americans to help promote vaccination. The campaign, entitled “The Skin You’re In”, produced a video of hip-hop artist Big Freedia from New Orleans playfully demonstrating how to wear a mask.
Although LaVeist credits the Trump administration for supporting the development of vaccines, he said naming Operation Warp Speed was a “disastrous” choice because it seemed to increase speed, not careful scientific analysis.
“I completely understand the mistrust,” said LaVeist, who had his first blow on Monday. But you need to consider the risk of COVID versus the risk of the vaccine. This is a devastating disease and has disproportionately affected black Americans. That’s what we know. “
Due to fears of deportation, there is also mistrust among Latinos that decreases vaccination capacity, as well as a language barrier in many cases, according to activists.
Many black Americans and other people of color are taking steps to ensure that their communities receive the vaccine, including Detroit medical worker Sameerah Singletary, who is about to receive a shot soon.
More than 1,700 people in the country’s largest black-majority city have died of the virus, including some of Singletary’s friends and her godmother. However, she knows many who refuse the vaccine.
“I think there’s such a collective trauma in people of color, even in Detroit, that a lot of people have nothing left,” Singletary said. “They were so traumatized that they didn’t care, because the virus was just another layer on top.”
But he added: “I feel we have to participate in our healing.”