Infectious Disease

Federal health centers are administering most COVID-19 vaccines to minorities

January 13, 2022

2 minutes read

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Disclosure:
Cole does not report relevant financial information. The relevant financial information of all other authors can be found in the study.

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As of July, state-qualified health centers had administered 61.4% of their COVID-19 vaccines to people of other racial and ethnic origins than whites, researchers reported in JAMA Network Open.

In comparison, in the general population of the United States, 40% of COVID-19 vaccines have been given to minority racial and ethnic groups Megan B Cole, promotion, km/h, Assistant Professor of Health Law, Policy and Management and Co-Director of the Boston University Medicaid Policy Lab and Colleagues.

Source: Adobe Stock.

More than 60% of people vaccinated against COVID-19 at government-qualified health centers were of a different race and ethnicity from white. Source: Adobe Stock.

Cole and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study of data on COVID-19 immunizations administered from January 8 to July 2 at Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in the US 234), located in US territories (n = 32) or received less than 10 vaccinations per week (n = 22).

“FQHCs have played a critical role in enabling equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines in marginalized communities who are otherwise often least likely to receive the vaccine,” Cole said in a press release.

The study included 1,096 FQHCs serving 25.9 million people. Among them, 56% were female, 0.7% identified as Native American or Alaskan Native, 2.9% Asian, 17.5 Black, 42% Hispanic, 34.9% White, and 2% other races.

A total of 5,606,679 vaccinations were administered to patients of known race or ethnicity. Race and ethnicity were unknown in 18.7% of patients.

“These populations may not otherwise have easy access to a vaccination clinic or may not trust other types of institutions that have histories of racism or that have systematically failed them,” said Cole.

As of July 2, a total of 30,852 patients identifying as Native American or Alaskan Native, 618,024 Asian, 684,792 Black, 2,181,502 Hispanic and 116,683 other minorities received the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in FQHCs.

According to the authors, the cumulative proportion of Black and Hispanic patients receiving vaccine in FQHCs increased over time.

Originally, Native American or Alaskan Native, Asian, and White patients were more likely to receive the vaccine, while Black and Hispanic patients were less likely to receive the vaccine, the authors wrote. Equity varied over time, and by April 16 all minority groups experienced statistical equity except for black patients, who had an equity rate of 0.94 (95% CI, 0.88-0.99) in July .

“Persistent COVID-19 Vaccine Inequalities in Black Communities [are] likely shaped by greater structural barriers to vaccine access combined with medical distrust stemming from decades of systemic racism in the medical community,” said Cole. “FQHCs can help further mitigate these drivers through continued partnerships with community organizations, targeted outreach, mobile and pop-up clinics with extended hours, and by providing culturally competent and linguistically appropriate information to all patients.”

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