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While efforts to get more Blacks and Hispanics inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccines are bearing some fruit, a new Kaiser Family Foundation report finds that continued lower vaccination rates put these minority groups at a greater risk for the coronavirus, particularly as new variants spread.
The good news is “recent trends suggest a narrowing of racial gaps in vaccinations at the national level, particularly for Hispanic people, who have received a larger share of vaccinations compared to their share of the total population (32 percent vs. 17 percent),” the report says. The KFF analysis is based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as of June 28 from the 47 states that track COVID-19 vaccinations by race and ethnicity. The CDC says this data represents race/ethnicity for 57 percent of people who have received at least one dose of a vaccine.
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"For the first time,” KFF researchers say, “the share of recent vaccinations received by Black people also surpassed their share of the total population (13 percent vs. 12 percent)."
Administration officials have targeted much of their recent effort to reach unvaccinated Americans to minorities, including enlisting religious, civil rights and other community groups. President Joe Biden had set a goal of 70 percent of all adults getting at least one shot by July 4. CDC data show that as of June 30, 66.5 percent of adults age 18 and older had received at least one shot. At the same time, the data show that 87.9 percent of adults age 65 and older have gotten at least one vaccine dose. The president has acknowledged that the 70 percent goal will not be reached for several weeks beyond Independence Day.
Race/Ethnicity of People Receiving a COVID-19 Vaccine in the U.S. as of June 28, 2021
