U.S. Advisory Panel Advocates for Minority Groups to Be Prioritized in Getting a COVID-19 Vaccine
As the race to a COVID-19 vaccine continues throughout the world, the central question has revolved around who will get immunized first. A U.S. Advisory panel aims to answer that question.
The panel recommended on October 2 that first responders and healthcare workers receive the vaccine first. They also added that minority groups, particularly those from low-income and disadvantaged backgrounds, should have primary access.
The pandemic has significantly affected minority communities across the US, spotlighting disparities in health care throughout the country. An analysis of COVID-19 demographic data from NPR revealed that Black Americans die at twice the rate of the rest of the population. In some states, this rate exceeds three or four times that of the population’s average.
Moreover, Hispanics and Latinos comprise a significant portion of confirmed cases in 42 states and the District of Columbia. In eight of these states, they have four times as many cases as compared with their percentage of the population. Contrarily, the average death rate for white individuals remains below the population’s average in 37 of these states and D.C.
Despite significant gaps in the data, Native Americans have suffered a disproportionately high number of COVID-19 cases as well. The New York Times reported that “the rate of known cases in the eight counties with the largest populations of Native Americans is nearly double the national average.” Nonetheless, however, even in New Mexico, a state with one of the largest Native American populations, they only make up nine percent of the population but account for 40 percent of coronavirus cases.
The CDC released an article detailing this racial disparity during the pandemic, highlighting discrimination, healthcare access, occupation, housing, education and socio-economic gaps as the main contributors to the health inequity. Examples include jobs that require high levels of exposure on the front lines, poor access to health services, and higher rates of poverty. Beyond the higher rate of infection amongst minority populations, these minorities have more susceptibility to the virus and show higher rates of pre-existing conditions that result in “severe illness from COVID-19.”
A co-chair of the advisory panel William Foege from Emory Rollins School of Public Health supported the panel’s recommendations, stating that “Everybody knows from the news how deadly this has been for minorities [...] This virus has no concept of color but it has a very good concept of vulnerabilities,.” This logic makes up the basis behind the conclusion that the vaccine should go out to those most vulnerable before becoming widely available to the general public.
Although the federal government will have a crucial role in overseeing the allocation of the coronavirus vaccine, states and local health departments will have primary control over its administration and availability at clinics.
However, these recommendations fall short of a comprehensive solution, according to committee chairman Dr. Jose Romero, who explains the need for independent checks to ensure the production of safe vaccines. He urges for transparency with regards to vaccine safety data to boost confidence amongst those first in line for the shot, saying, “you can have the best vaccine in the world, but if people don’t have confidence in the vaccine, it will do no good.”