State: Racial disparities seen in vaccine distribution

More than half of all doses of COVID-19 vaccine given in the state as of Feb. 3 were given to white people, according to data released by the state Department of Public Health on Wednesday.

The data also showed that 5.2 percent of doses were given to those identifying as Hispanic, 3.4 percent of doses were given to those identifying as Black and 2.6 percent of doses were given to those identifying as Asian.

The state reported that 6.2 percent of doses were given to those identifying as being of multiple races and 17.6 percent of doses were administered to those who gave their race as “other.”

Though a release from the state pointed out that there are limitations in the data, it confirmed huge

racial disparities in vaccine administration — a concern that’s been expressed by many statewide and nationwide.

“As we open up the vaccine program to individuals 65 and over, we are redoubling our efforts to ensure that vaccine is reaching the communities and populations who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19,” said acting DPH commissioner Dr. Deidre Gifford in a news release. “We are reallocating additional vaccine to communities with large minority populations, encouraging our vaccine providers to conduct outreach and implement other measures to ensure that individuals from underserved communities have equitable access to vaccinations.”

The data released by the state showed that of the 333,796 doses administered to state residents older than 16, some 187,378 — 56.1 percent — went to those identifying as white. The disparities remained when the data was broken down into those aged 16 to 74 and those 75 and older.

Among the 16 to 74 population, 54.1 percent of doses went to those identifying as white, while 6.9 percent went to those identifying as Hispanic, 4.3 percent went to those identifying as Black and 3.4 percent went to those identifying as Asian.

However, the biggest disparity was among those 75 and older. In that age group, 59.7 percent of doses went to those identifying as white, whereas 2.3 percent went to those identifying as Hispanic, 1.9 percent went to those identifying as Black and 1.1 percent went to those identifying as Asian.

The state maintained that the data isn’t exhaustive for multiple reasons. For instance, though reporting race and ethnicity is required for all providers, “there are some gaps, which is the case across all vaccines and not unique to COVID-19 vaccines,” the state said in a news release.

Also, providers and individuals have the option of selecting “other,” “multiple races” or “not reported,” which can make analysis challenging, according to state officials. Providers also use multiple means of reporting data to the state, and processing that information can lead to missing or underreported data.

To address the disparities unearthed in the data, the state reported that it is taking multiple actions including supporting a multi-lingual education and social media campaign to boost vaccine confidence and boosting allocation to what are known as high social vulnerability index communities.

These are communities where multiple factors — including poverty, lack of transportation access and crowded housing — may make it harder to respond to a public health crisis, the report said.