Counties with higher percentages of minorities have higher rates of coronavirus vaccination than those with lower percentages, according to new research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The study examined vaccine coverage among those aged 18 and older in counties based on social vulnerability, which is defined as social and structural factors related to poor health outcomes. Such factors include income, education, disability, and race.
As expected, counties that had lower income and education levels and higher rates of disability had lower rates of vaccination.
STRUCTURAL RACISM MAY NOT BE THE CAUSE OF HEALTH DISPARITIES BETWEEN BLACKS AND WHITES
But it had a surprising finding regarding race. The CDC stated that vaccine coverage was “higher in counties with higher [social vulnerability] related to racial and ethnic minority residents.”
The rate of vaccination was 56.5% in the counties with the highest rates of racial and ethnic minorities and 45.1% in those with the lowest rates. That pattern held for large suburban counties and medium and small metropolitan counties. In nonmetropolitan counties, vaccination coverage was slightly higher in areas with the lowest rates of racial and ethnic minorities than counties with the highest rates.
The study did not elaborate on this finding.
It runs counter to a Kaiser Family Foundation study examining vaccination data from the CDC.
The CDC has racial data on 56% of people who have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. According to that data, about 62% of those vaccinated are white, 14% are Hispanic, 9% are black and 6% are Asian. Those numbers are low for Hispanics and black people, who comprise 18.5% and 12.2% of the United States population, respectively. White people account for 60%, and Asian people account for 5.6%.
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“These data raise concerns about racial disparities in COVID-19 vaccinations,” the Kaiser Family Foundation report said. “Preventing such disparities will be important to mitigate the disproportionate impacts of the pandemic for people of color.”
