According to a KHN analysis, Black Americans are getting vaccinated at lower rates than white Americans in the first phase of the vaccine rollout.
Only 3% of Americans have received their first round of the vaccine thus far. Data collected from 16 states revealed that white residents are receiving their vaccines at higher rates than Black residents—some cases report two to three times higher.
As of January 14, Pennsylvania was the most dramatic case. 1.2% of white state residents have been vaccinated compared to 0.3% of Black Pennsylvanians.
The first batch of vaccines went to healthcare workers and staffers on the pandemic’s front lines. The industry typically has a racially diverse makeup of doctors, hospital cafeteria workers, nurses, and janitorial employees.
But the numbers aren’t adding up. If the first batches were getting to people of all races fairly, the shares of individuals vaccinated and whose race is known should loosely align with healthcare workers’ demographics.
Blacks were significantly underrepresented, KHN reported.
Accessibility and mistrust surrounding structural racism may be a factor for the lower rates among Black health care workers.
Native Americans, Hispanics, and Blacks are dying from the coronavirus at nearly three times the rate of their white counterparts, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated. And non-Hispanic Black and Asian health care workers are more at risk of becoming infected with COVID-19 and dying from it than White workers.
“My concern now is if we don’t vaccinate the population that’s highest-risk, we’re going to see even more disproportional deaths in Black and brown communities,” said Dr. Fola May, a UCLA physician and health equity researcher. “It breaks my heart.”
According to Dr. Taison Bell, a physician at the University of Virginia Health System and serves on its vaccination distribution committee says that the hesitancy among some Black Americans and the vaccine is not monolithic. The nurses he spoke with are concerned it could damage their fertility. A Black co-worker questioned him on the Moderna vaccine’s safety, considering it was the company’s first round released to the market.
Others brought up conspiracy theories, while other Black co-workers wanted to speak to someone knowledgeable about the vaccine, in this case, Bell, who is also Black.
Still, hospitals aren’t exempt from having their own issues of managing the vaccination. Bell was upset to learn that members of the environmental service—janitorial staff—didn’t have access to hospital emails, which is where the registration information was sent to hospital staff.
“That’s what structural racism looks like,” said Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. “Those groups were seen and not heard — nobody thought about it.”
Eric Swenson, a UVA spokesperson, told the outlet that some of the janitorial crew members were the first to get vaccinated. Now, more than half of the environmental services team has received it.
One-third of Black adults across the country don’t plan to get vaccinated due to concerns with its newness and safety reasons. They also fear getting COVID-19 from the actual vaccine.
Those that plan to get it—just over half—said they are waiting to see how it goes with others first.
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