ABC News analyzed vaccination data broken down by demographic in 15 states.
Black Americans have been vaccinated at rates significantly lower than white Americans — and often, at levels below their share of their state’s population, according to an ABC News analysis of statistics from 15 states, and national demographic information released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC is still struggling to understand the scope of this problem, with race data missing from a staggering 48.1% of data submitted by states. Early on in the pandemic, race data was similarly missing in data reporting of COVID-19 cases and deaths.
The ABC statistical analysis examined state data through Jan. 31, from Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia. Race and ethnicity data has not been provided by many states, and the data is often incomplete or inconsistent among states that did release data.
Although several other states offer vaccination data by race, they break down the data by doses instead of the number of individuals vaccinated.
In Pennsylvania, Black residents represent 12% of the population, and white residents 81.6%. So far, less than 1.8% of those vaccinated have been Black, while nearly 57% of those vaccinated are white. Thirty-eight percent of the remaining portion was categorized as “unknown,” 2.8% was classified as “other,” and 0.19% was listed as individuals who identify as Asian.
Similarly, in Mississippi, Black residents account for only 17% inoculations, despite being nearly 38% of the population, versus 68% of the white residents, who make up 59% of the population.
And in Tennessee, although Black residents represent 17% of the state’s population, they account for just 5.8% of vaccinations, while 65% of those vaccinated are white residents, who make up 78% of the total population.
Black, Hispanic and Native Americans are dying from the virus at almost three times the rate of white Americans, according to the CDC, and Black Americans are also hospitalized for COVID-19 at more than triple the rate of white Americans.
Black Americans have greater rates of comorbidities, including hypertension, diabetes, pulmonary/cardiovascular disease and obesity, rendering them more vulnerable to COVID-19, according to a study from University of Tennessee.
At the most fundamental level, there are major social and structural challenges around our health care system, concurred Beyrer, the result of decades of structural racism and inequalities.❐
