New variants from the UK, South Africa and Brazil have arrived, and the COVID-19 is about to get much worse in America. It can reach our black communities more strongly – unless we devise a new plan to prevent a potentially catastrophic increase in deaths and prolonged illnesses.
Last year, we quickly learned how black populations suffered disproportionately compared to most other groups in the United States. Approximately 56,000 black people were recorded as losing their lives due to COVID-19, and the number is likely to be a lower count. This figure represents 16 percent of all documented COVID-19 deaths across the country, exceeding the percentage of black Americans in the United States population. One in 792 black Americans died in connection with the coronavirus, about three times the rate among whites. Blacks are also much more likely to contract COVID-19 or require hospitalization.
Equally worrying, black Americans, at least in the beginning of the pandemic, appeared to be dying of COVID-19 at a younger age compared to the rest of the US population. While 13 percent of the deaths of whites examined by the CDC were under the age of 65, 30 percent of the deaths of non-whites fell in this age group.
The reasons for the high rates of serious illness and death at a younger age require further investigation. They likely include higher exposure rates due to the essential nature of work in low-income neighborhoods connected to construction sites or small businesses and, possibly, virus infections among homeless and incarcerated populations. There are also substantial rates of diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease and obesity among black populations.
The end result is that we are losing thousands of black mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters in their forties, fifties and early sixties to COVID-19. We are moving into a new reality in which, soon, most blacks can personally meet someone who lost their lives to COVID-19.
Our best hope of preventing further devastation is through vaccination. But then again, we are failing the Black families.
Although vaccination data is not yet widely available in many states, it appears that black Americans have lagged behind whites. A new analysis by Kaiser Health News in 16 states found that white residents significantly outnumber black residents, often by a factor of two or three times, in terms of immunization rates. For example, in Mississippi – a state with 38% of the black population – only 18% of those who were vaccinated were black.
A major concern is the lack of access to the vaccine. Under President Trump, our national vaccination program for COVID-19 was significantly dependent on hospital and pharmacy chains, although many poor neighborhoods no longer maintain community hospitals or have become “pharmacy deserts”. The closure of hospitals in segregated communities is well documented, and a 2014 study in the prestigious Health Issues the policy paper highlighted the desertification of pharmacies in segregated communities in Chicago.
Combining inadequate access to healthcare and pharmacies are high rates of vaccine refusal or hesitation. A recent study in which I participated, published in Social Sciences and Medicine and led by Dr. Tim Callaghan at Texas A&M University, found that 31 percent of Americans did not plan to get vaccinated against COVID-19 – with 40 percent more likely that blacks would not attempt immunization. Among the main reasons cited are fears about the safety and effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine, as well as the costs and lack of health insurance. A previous Kaiser study showed similar results.
A perfect storm is brewing in America’s black communities. Increased exposure to COVID-19 in low-income neighborhoods, high rates of comorbidities and deaths in younger age groups, lack of access to the vaccine and refusal to vaccine, all work to ensure that black adults suffer devastating losses.
And now we face the impact of emerging variants.
The variants have already established themselves in 32 US states and may surpass existing ones in the coming weeks. COVID-19 is about to become even more contagious and possibly more lethal. In the spring, new variants of COVID-19 may cause the historic decimation of black communities.
In addition to the infrastructure problems needed to improve health systems in low-income communities, we must take steps to quickly immunize black Americans before variants. The Biden government presented a solid plan to achieve equality in communities of color – and to vaccinate the American people by the fall. But with the increase in variants, our time is running out and we must complete a national vaccination campaign by summer. Avoiding a prolonged path of destruction requires immediate expansion of access to the vaccine in black communities.
We must also effectively communicate the dangers of COVID-19 to black Americans, especially those in middle-aged adulthood who would otherwise succumb to the virus in large numbers. This includes addressing Tuskegee’s horrific legacy in the 20th century and reassuring the black community that vaccination against COVID-19 is not a distorted experience.
Our message: Vaccination offers the only right way to avoid hospitalization, admission to the ICU or death.
There is also another important element at play. In 2019, antivaxxer groups specifically targeted communities in Harlem, New York, with a disinformation campaign, just as they did with the Minnesota Somali immigrant community in 2017 and Orthodox Jewish groups from New York in 2018 and 2019. Vaccination hesitation may represent a rush from Harlem’s antivaxxer rallies in 2019. In response, scientists and doctors must strive to reach black audiences through radio programming, podcasts and zoom calls.
We must counter the terrible claims of anti-xxxxx groups and make it a national priority to prevent dramatic loss of life on an almost unimaginable scale.