COVID-19
A startling aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic within the United States has been how its negative consequences have disproportionately affected historically disadvantaged communities, thus building on the systemic racism already present in society. Data collected since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that Black, Hispanic, and Asian people have experienced higher rates of infection, hospitalization, and death when compared to White people. An analysis conducted on data collected by July 20, 2020 from Epic health record system for 7 million Black patients, 5.1 million Hispanic patients, 1.4 million Asian patients, and 34.1 million White patients revealed disproportionate hospitalization rates and death rates per 10,000 for minority groups. For Black patients the hospitalization rates and death rates per 10,000 were 24.6 and 5.6, for Hispanic patients they were 30.4 and 5.6, 15.9 and 4.3 for Asian patients, and 7.4 and 2.3 for White patients. It was also noted in a study by Alsan et al. that Black men (n=830) were less likely than White men (n=3759) to possess health-related knowledge about symptoms and transmission of COVID-19. This suggests that public health information may not be equitably distributed between members of different racial/ethnic groups.
The APM Research Lab has been working on an ongoing project referred to as the “Color of Coronavirus” in which they monitor how and where COVID-19 mortality is disproportionately affecting minority groups. They collected COVID-19 data from Dec. 8th, 2020 – March 2nd, 2021 and determined that Indigenous, Black & Pacific Islander Americans have experienced the highest death tolls due to COVID-19.
From the COVID-19 data they have collected from all available US states and the District of Columbia, APM Research Lab has calculated the mortality impacts for racial groups since the onset of the pandemic. They found that 1 in 390 Indigenous Americans has died (or 256.0 deaths per 100,000), 1 in 555 Black Americans has died (or 179.8 deaths per 100,000), 1 in 565 Pacific Islander Americans has died (or 176.6 deaths per 100,000), 1 in 665 White Americans has died (or 150.2 deaths per 100,000), 1 in 680 Latino Americans has died (or 147.3 deaths per 100,000), and 1 in 1,040 Asian Americans has died (or 96.0 deaths per 100,000). In an additional study, they adjusted the data for age differences in race groups and found that the deviation in mortality rates between all other groups compared to White and Asian Americans actually increases. They conclude that the Indigenous population is 3.3 times more likely to have died of COVID-19 than White Americans, Pacific Islander population is 2.6 times more likely, Latino population is 2.4 times more likely, and the Black population is 2 times more likely.
Vaccinations
According to the CDC COVID Data Tracker, there have been 31,444,706 COVID-19 cases with a total of 563,908 deaths in the United States as of April 18th, 2021. A total of 209M COVID-19 vaccines have been delivered in the US, with 39.5% of the total population having received at least one dose and 25.4% of the total population being fully vaccinated. 50.4% of the population over the age of 18 have received at least one dose while 32.5% of the population over the age of 18 have been fully vaccinated. In contrast, 81% of the population over the age of 65 have received at least one dose while 65.9% of the population over the age of 65 have been fully vaccinated.
Demographic Characteristics of People Receiving COVID-19 Vaccinations in the United States:
- Data from 131,247,546 people with at least one dose administered, race/ethnicity was available for 72,662,501 (55.4%) people of this data.
- About 65% of individuals who have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine have been White, Non-Hispanic
- 5% have been Asian, Non-Hispanic
- ~1% have been American Indian/Alaska Native, Non-Hispanic
- 11% have been Hispanic/Latino
- 8% have been Black, Non-Hispanic
- < 1% have been Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, Non-Hispanic
- 8% have been Multiple/Other, Non-Hispanic
- Data from 84,263,408 people who are fully vaccinated, race/ethnicity was available for 48,772,581 (57.9%) people of this data.
- 68% of individuals who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 have been White, Non-Hispanic
- 4% have been Asian, Non-Hispanic
- ~1% have been American Indian/Alaska Native, Non-Hispanic
- 9% have been Hispanic/Latino
- 7% have been Black, Non-Hispanic
- < 1% have been Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, Non-Hispanic
Through Emory University’s new vaccination tracker, which was launched as part of its online health equity dashboard to highlight how US states are distributing and administering their COVID-19 vaccinations, it has been noted that Black Americans are lagging behind in receiving the vaccine as African Americans make up 13% of the population, yet only 8% are fully vaccinated. Similarly, Hispanic Americans make up 18% of the population, but only 9% are fully vaccinated. Lastly, Asian Americans make up about 6% of the population, but only 4% are fully vaccinated. On the other hand, both White Americans and Native Americans make up a larger proportion of those fully vaccinated than are present in the total population.
Published: April, 2021