Rep. Grace Meng
Grace Meng: Remember American Asian voters: Democrats see increased turnout among Asian American voters and Pacific Islanders. Five House Democrats who could join Biden MORE cabinet (DN.Y.) summoned Sunday Xavier Becerra
Goodwin Liu’s background and experience make him an ideal choice for California Attorney General Braun: Biden should reconsider HHS divisive cabinet Xavier Becerra., President Biden’s candidacy for secretary of health and human services, to collect and provide data that breaks down the demographics of vaccine administration in order to address health inequalities among vulnerable populations.
“Racial inequalities in health, justice, housing, employment and education have been abundant and buried deep in the social fabric of our nation,” Meng said in a statement. “Blacks, Asians, Hispanics, Native Americans, other minority groups, the LGBTQI community, and Americans with disabilities have fought for true equality before the national health pandemic occurred.”
Meng is currently seeking other lawmakers to sign a letter to Becerra, which he plans to send on Monday.
“A national demographic breakdown of COVID-19 vaccines administered is essential for Congress to assess and address where gaps lie in the launch of COVID-19 vaccination,” Meng wrote. “This information will also be critical in addressing long-term health inequalities and racial inequalities among vulnerable populations.”
“Everyone needs to be vaccinated and communities of color must have equal access,” Meng said.
In his letter, Meng asked about what vaccine administration data has been received so far from states and territories, whether the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has collected demographic data on vaccines or not, and what had to do government agency to address “social vulnerability” in vaccine distribution.
Because color communities, particularly Hispanic and black communities, have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, the data suggest that they have received comparatively lower vaccine quotas compared to whiter and richer populations.
Black and Hispanic Americans are more likely to work in jobs that expose them to the virus and are more likely to suffer a more severe case of the virus due to the underlying health conditions.
Aside from lack of access, vaccine hesitation may also have contributed to the lower immunization rate in these communities. A recent Pew Research study found that 42% of black Americans said they would get the vaccine compared to more than 60% of white and Hispanic adults.
Biden’s candidate for general surgeon, Vivek Murthy
Vivek MurthyBill and Melinda Gates warn that a pandemic could trigger “inequality of immunity,” Biden will appoint nurse as acting surgeon general: Sunday’s report shows: Biden’s agenda and Trump’s impeachment trial dominate MORE, addressed the apparent inequality in an interview last week and appeared to share Meng’s call to collect demographics.
“We already know from the COVID crisis last year that there are certain communities that have been hard hit by this virus, that rural communities have had more difficulty accessing resources, that communities of color have experienced more cases and deaths, that the elderly have had problems, especially in the long-term facilities, ”said Murthy.
“We need to make sure we have data on where the vaccine is being administered, so that we can ensure that it is, in fact, distributed equitably,” Murthy added.