A racial gap has been spotted in the country’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign, with black Americans in many places continuing behind whites to receive shots, according to an Associated Press analysis.
An early look at the 17 states and two cities that released racial disruptions by Jan. 25 found that black people are being vaccinated everywhere at levels below their share of the general population, in some cases significantly lower.
This is true even though they make up a large percentage of the health workers in the country, who were placed at the forefront of the line when the campaign began in mid-December.
In North Carolina, for example, black people make up 22% of the population and 26% of health care workers, but so far only 11% of vaccine recipients. White people, a category in which the state includes both Spanish and non-Spanish whites, are 68% of the population and 82% of the vaccinated.
The gap is of great concern to some, as the coronavirus has taken an excessive toll in black disease in the U.S. with serious illness and death, where the plague has killed more than 430,000 Americans. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, black, Hispanic, and Native Americans die nearly three times more than whites from COVID-19.
“We are going to see an increase and worsening of the racial health inequalities that existed before the pandemic and worsened during the pandemic if our communities did not have access to the vaccine,” said Dr. Advancing Health Equity, an advocacy group that addresses prejudice and inequality.
Experts believe that several factors may be driving the emerging inequality, including deep mistrust in the medical institution among black Americans due to a history of discriminatory treatment; insufficient access to the vaccine in black neighborhoods; and a digital divide that can make it difficult to access important information. Entries for vaccination are largely made online.
“It’s frustrating and challenging,” said Dr. Michelle Fiscus, who runs the Tennessee vaccination program, which doubles the dose to some severely affected rural counties, but with deep-rooted mistrust among some Black Tennesseans.
“We have to work very hard to build trust and to get these people vaccinated,” Fiscus said. “They are dying. They are admitted to the hospital. ”
Hispanics 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 yet to be opened up to young people.
However, several states where Spanish communities were particularly affected by COVID-19 have not yet reported data, particularly California and New York.
President Joe Biden is trying to give more equality to the rollout of vaccines he inherited from the Trump administration. The Biden government encourages states to map and target vulnerable neighborhoods using tools such as the CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index, which includes data on race, poverty, pressure housing and other factors.
“We are going to take extra steps to reach the people who are the most difficult to reach, and the work is currently taking place,” said Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, chair of Biden’s COVID-19 task force, said.
Most states have not yet released any racial data on who was vaccinated. Even in the states that provided outline, the data are often incomplete, with many records missing details about race. However, the missing information would in most cases not be enough to change the overall picture.
The 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 AP analysis found that whites in most of the countries surveyed were closer or higher than expected.
In the beginning, health care workers and residents of nursing homes were generally given preference for shots in the US
In recent weeks, many states have been eligible for a larger group of older people and more frontline workers, which could further suppress the relative share of black people being vaccinated. The population of over 65 in the country is stronger white than other age groups.
Among the findings:
In Maryland, black people make up 30% of the population and 40% of the health care industry is still only 16% of the people 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 shots. Spaniards of any race are 11% of the population and 5% of vaccine recipients.
In Philadelphia, black people are 40% of the population, but only 14% of the people who have been vaccinated in the city so far. Hispanics are 15% of the population and 4% of vaccine recipients.
In Chicago, black people make up 30% of the population, but only 15% of those who are vaccinated. At Hispanics, the numbers are 29% versus 17%.
The vaccination system is slower and more plagued than expected. Many Americans of all races have had trouble getting shots because supply is limited. Overall, about 7% of Americans received at least one dose. But there are other problems that are delaying vaccination among Black Americans and other groups, experts said.
Some black neighborhoods did not report anyone to give shots.
“What we have heard over and over again: many black people want to get it from their doctor or at their local clinic because that is where the trust is,” said Dr. Thomas Dobbs, Mississippi health officer.
Louisiana uses the CDC tool to locate vulnerable neighborhoods without vaccination sites and then recruits new vaccinators in those neighborhoods, Dr. Joseph Kanter, state health officer, said.
In some countries, other strategies are underway: provide transportation so that people can reach their appointments and reach people who are at home via mobile vaccination units.
To address mistrust, Thomas LaVeist, dean of the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at Tulane University in New Orleans, recruits notable Black Americans to promote vaccination. The campaign, called ‘The Skin You’re In’, produced a video by New Orleans hip-hop artist Big Freedia playfully demonstrate how to wear a mask.
Although LaVeist acknowledges the Trump administration’s support for vaccine development, he said the designation of the Operation Warp Speed project was a “disastrous” choice because it appears to emphasize speed, not careful scientific review. not.
“I fully understand the mistrust,” said LaVeist, who had his first shot on Monday. ‘But you have to consider the risk of COVID versus the risk of the vaccine. It is a devastating disease and it has affected black Americans excessively. This is what we do know. ”
Because of the fear of deportation, there is also distrust among Latinos that undermines the vaccination judgment, as well as a language barrier, according to activists.
Many black Americans and other people of color are taking steps to ensure that their communities receive the vaccine, including Deterait health worker Sameerah Singletary, who will soon get a chance.
More than 1,700 residents of the country’s largest black lake town have died from the virus, including some friends of Singletary and her godmother. Yet she knows many who refuse the vaccine.
“I think there’s such a collective trauma among black people, even in Detroit, that a lot of people have nothing left,” Singletary said. “They were so traumatized that they did not care because the virus was just another layer on top.”
But she added: “I feel we need to participate in our healing.”