/https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/6018519d196f3027e97afd41/0x0.jpg?cropX1=0&cropX2=4928&cropY1=53&cropY2=2826&w=1200&resize=1200,675&ssl=1 "Nearly 8% Of U.S. Population Has Been Vaccinated—But Data Show Stark Disparities")
Topline
The U.S. has doled out at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine to 25.5 million people—7.7% of the total population—but immunization rates remain disproportionately lower among some of the racial and ethnic groups hardest-hit by the virus, according to preliminary data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday.
Nurses fill syringes with the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, … [+]
AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
More than 22 million Americans have been vaccinated in the past month and inoculations have reached 22.5% of the country’s prioritized populations, according to The Washington Post’s vaccination tracker.
However, CDC data show that Black and Hispanic people were vaccinated at much lower rates than whites during the first month of the rollout (spanning from Dec. 14 to Jan. 14) despite the fact that both groups have been harder hit by the pandemic.
The data—which lacks race and ethnicity information for about half of those immunized—show that over 60% of those who were vaccinated in that period were white, more than 14% were of multiple races and ethnicities, 11.5% were Hispanic, 6% were Asian, just over 5% were Black, and 2% were American Indian or Alaska Natives.
The report warns about the limitations of interpretation due to the data gaps, but notes that the percentage of Black recipients of the vaccine “appears lower relative to the percentage of persons who are Black” among healthcare personnel and long-term care facility residents.
Chief Critic
Marcella Nunez-Smith, the head of the President Biden’s Health Equity Task Force, sounded the alarm about how incomplete data is hampering the administration’s push for an equitable vaccine rollout. “I’m worried about how behind we are,” said Nunez-Smith during a Monday press conference. “We must address these insufficient data points as an urgent priority.”
Key Background
People of color are overrepresented in many essential professions that have been hit heavily by the pandemic. According to the CDC, Black and Latino Americans are three to four times more likely than whites to be hospitalized because of Covid-19, and roughly three times more likely to die. The Covid Tracking Project reports that nationwide, Black people have died at 1.5 times the rate as white people. A history of discriminatory treatment has sown distrust in the medical establishment among some communities of color, and may play a factor in the lower inoculation rates. For example, a recent medRxiv survey of 4,000 healthcare workers found that Blacks and Latinos signaled the most hesitancy about taking the vaccine, with roughly 65% of Black healthcare workers saying they would prefer to wait to review safety and efficacy data before inoculation.
Further Reading
“Essential workers get lost in the vaccine scrum as states prioritize the elderly” (The Washington Post)
“Multiple States Report Nursing Home Staff Reluctant To Take Vaccine” (Forbes)
/https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/6018519d196f3027e97afd41/0x0.jpg?cropX1=0&cropX2=4928&cropY1=53&cropY2=2826&w=1200&resize=1200,0&ssl=1&description=Nearly+8%25+Of+U.S.+Population+Has+Been+Vaccinated%E2%80%94But+Data+Show+Stark+Disparities){kind=link}