Bloomberg’s COVID-19 vaccine demographics tracker has revealed that White and Asian populations are being vaccinated at a greater rate than Black and Hispanic populations, according to findings detailed in a Feb. 16 story.
The publication’s weekly tracker has so far examined 27 states and two cities—New York City and Philadelphia—where race or ethnicity data is available. Collectively, the tracker accounts for almost 70% of all U.S. COVID-19 doses administered. It updates as more information is disclosed.
Elderly recipients of the vaccine are more likely to be White, while Hispanic recipients are trending to younger ages. This skew is also due in part to a larger proportion of White Americans residing or working in nursing homes, a group that took priority when vaccine deployment began.
Some have attributed the lower distribution rates among communities of color to cynicism towards the vaccine. Other factors include the inability to sign up online due to lack of access to a computer or issues with buggy websites.
Vermont, Oregon, and Washington are currently in the lead for states with the most equitable distribution. Even so, vaccination percentages are still unequal and skew more towards White and Asian individuals.
Alabama and Louisiana are among the most unequal for distribution, and also score the lowest for data quality. Just 11% of Alabama data contains people’s ethnicities and 68% for race. On the flipside, North Carolina data is the most complete, with nearly 100% of race and ethnicity data reported.
“We’re going to 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,” Dr. Uché Blackstock, a New York emergency physician and CEO of Advancing Health Equity, told the Associated Press on Jan. 30.
In its methodology, Bloomberg specified that states reporting no race or ethnicity data will get a distribution score of zero. As of this week, this includes 18 states and the District of Columbia. The Census 5-year American Community Survey is used calculate race and ethnicity share of a city or state’s population.
Uber and Walgreens last week partnered to distribute vaccines to underprivileged communities, where patients can make an appointment with either Walgreens or offsite vaccination facilities and, shortly after, will be prompted to schedule their free ride. Chicago, Houston, El Paso, and Atlanta will pilot the program before its widespread rollout. As of now, patients in Atlanta have access to free rides.
Weekly vaccine supply to states increased last week under White House protocol. As of Feb. 16, states will collectively receive 13.5 million doses weekly as more Pfizer vaccines are allocated into the distribution mix.
“This will provide more sites for people to get vaccinated in their communities, and it’s an important component to delivering vaccines equitably,” COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said in a Feb. 2 briefing.
Vaccine rollout efforts have been seen as ineffective in recent months, with some saying that doses can be wasted if vaccines are not provided on a first-come, first-serve basis. A lack of careful planning amplifies this, as nearly 530 vaccines in Illinois went to waste on Feb. 16.
Not all Americans are eligible for the vaccine, and a supply shortage is still present. The U.S. fell short of its goal in December to inoculate 20 million people against the virus by the end of 2020, administrating only 4.8 million by the first week of 2021, according to federal figures.
