Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Worries About Broader Vaccine Rollouts And Racial Inequality
Roll Call: Broader Vaccine Eligibility May Exacerbate Racial Inequities
States and the federal government are trying to stop the COVID-19 vaccine equity gap from growing as vaccine eligibility opens up to all adults — but officials don't have much time. Black and Hispanic individuals are getting shots at a lower rate than white Americans, and polling indicates this is due more to challenges in getting the vaccine than a vaccine hesitancy problem. President Joe Biden has said states would open up vaccine eligibility for all adults by April 19, and public health experts say that could exacerbate the equity gap unless states work quickly to level the playing field. (Cohen, 4/13)
Bloomberg: Understanding Vaccine Hesitancy Among Black Americans
Over the past few months, you’ve probably heard a lot about the Tuskegee experiment. That was a study that began in 1932 in which hundreds of Black men with syphilis were told they were being treated for “bad blood.” In fact, researchers wanted to study what would happen if their syphilis went untreated. The study ran for 40 years—in that time, the men never received the proper treatment to cure their illness. The study has become shorthand for why people of color may hesitate to trust vaccines, even though Black Americans have died at twice the rate of White Americans due to Covid-19, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prvention data. (Brown, 4/13)
Stateline: Vaccinations Lag For Home Health Workers
Health care workers were among the first U.S. residents eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. But months into the vaccination rollout, survey data suggests that nurses and aides who work in people’s homes are less likely to have had shots than their counterparts in hospitals and nursing homes. Just a quarter of home health care workers were vaccinated by early March, compared to about two-thirds of hospital workers and half of nursing home workers, according to a joint poll by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation and The Washington Post. (Quinton and Hernández, 4/13)
Bloomberg: More Than 797 Million Shots Given: Covid-19 Vaccine Tracker
The biggest vaccination campaign in history is underway. More than 797 million doses have been administered across 154 countries, according to data collected by Bloomberg. The latest rate was roughly 18 million doses a day. In the U.S., more Americans have received at least one dose than have tested positive for the virus since the pandemic began. So far, 190 million doses have been given. In the last week, an average of 3.21 million doses per day were administered. (4/12)
