NYS: Huge Racial Disparity Amongst Vaccine Recipients Revealed Upon Release of Demographics
Newly released demographic data concerning New Yorkers who’ve received the COVID-19 vaccine reveals a vast disparity between people of color and whites.
Categorized by those participating in the 1a, 1b the collective sums of non white New Yorkers did not come close to half of those who are Caucasian. Such discrepancies exist even amongst those aged 65 and above as can be seen in the chart below.
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1A – Hospital Workers |
1B – Essential Workers |
1B – 65+ Population |
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63% of vaccine recipients were white (70% of eligible population) |
74% of vaccine recipients were white (75% of eligible population) |
78% of vaccine recipients were white 77% of eligible population) |
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10% of vaccine recipients were African American (17% of eligible population) |
5% of vaccine recipients were African American (17% of eligible population) |
4% of vaccine recipients were African American (13% of eligible population) |
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10% of vaccine recipients were Hispanic or Latino (9% of eligible population) |
10% of vaccine recipients were Hispanic or Latino (14% of eligible population) |
5% of vaccine recipients were Hispanic or Latino (12 % of eligible population) |
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16% of vaccine recipients were Asian (12% of eligible population) |
7% of vaccine recipients were Asian (6% of eligible population) |
8% of vaccine recipients were Asian (7% of eligible population) |
“From the beginning of the vaccination effort, we have made it clear – our goal is to get shot in arms as quickly and equitably as possible and that’s exactly what we are doing,” Governor Cuomo said. “While the data shows New York is administering the vaccine at an extremely high rate, the most concerning issue at this point is that there continues to be a reluctance in much of the Black community to take the vaccine. We expected it. We talked about it early on. We are addressing it, but it still exists. Yes, there are bonafide reasons for distrust in the system, but it’s not true with this vaccine. The hesitancy must be directly addressed with facts and validation. From partnering with community leaders to help dispel rumors and myths, to establishing vaccination sites directly in underserved communities, like we did with Yankee Stadium, we’re doing more in New York than any state in this regard, and we are doubling down on those efforts. In order to finally win this war against COVID, everyone needs to be on board, and we will continue to do everything we can to make that happen.”
According to the Governor’s Office:
“”A recent poll conducted by the Association for a Better New York confirms similar trends with increased hesitancy about the vaccine among Black, Hispanic and Asian New Yorkers. The poll found: 78 percent of white New Yorkers would take the vaccine as soon as it was available to them compared 39 percent of Black New Yorkers, 54 percent of Hispanic New Yorkers and 54 percent of Asian New Yorkers who said the same.””
Early in the week, data provided by the NYC Department of Health showed similar differences. That data did not do as well a job of highlighting the problem as does that provided by the state due to not delineating what percentage of those eligible is participating in the vaccine distribution process.
This past Sunday, NYC Comptroller Scott M. Stringer and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams held a press briefing calling for the need for immediate action to ensure that New Yorkers across backgrounds, income-levels, occupations and age groups have equitable access to vaccines.
The video of that conference can be found near the bottom of this page.
On that day, Mr. Williams issued the following statement:
“Our leaders have continually failed vulnerable communities throughout this pandemic – first in minimizing infection, now in maximizing injection. The demographic data on vaccine distribution that the city finally released today after long delays confirms what we feared and expected – that the people and communities of more color, disproportionately harmed by the pandemic, have been disproportionately hindered in equitable access to vaccination.
“Many of us knew this would be the case, and we know there are many contributing factors, from infrastructure inadequacy and technological failures to cultural hesitancy to longstanding healthcare privileges and disparities. We know too that the government – city, state, and federal – each had a role in creating this divide, and has a responsibility to equitably close it. There are no excuses and there can be no passing the blame at this point – supply may be a federal issue, but distribution decisions fall on our state and local executives.
“We had the time to get this right. We have the tools, systems, and community networks in place to reach people in communities of more color with information about and access to the vaccine – we proved this capability in our work for an improved census count last year during a pandemic. In order to vaccinate New Yorkers with speed, equity, and efficiency, the city can and must learn a lesson from those efforts. A progressive New York should be leading the way on equity, not looking for excuses when we fail to achieve it.”
https://youtu.be/jNdity27l7s