New variants have arrived from the UK, South Africa and Brazil, and COVID-19 is on the verge of getting much worse in America. It can affect our black communities more, unless we come up with a new plan to prevent a potentially catastrophic increase in deaths and prolonged illness.
Last year we quickly learned how black populations suffered disproportionately compared to most other groups in the United States. Approximately 56,000 blacks have been reported to have lost their lives due to COVID-19, and the figure is likely to be lower. This number represents 16 percent of all deaths documented by COVID-19 nationwide, exceeding the percentage of black Americans in the U.S. population. One in 792 black Americans has died in relation to the coronavirus, about three times the rate among whites. Black people are also much more likely to contract COVID-19 or require hospitalization.
Equally disturbing, black Americans, at least at the onset of the pandemic, appeared to die of COVID-19 at a younger age compared to the rest of the American population. While 13 percent of CDC-examined white deaths were under the age of 65, 30 percent of non-white deaths fell in that age range.
The reasons for the high rates of serious illness and death at younger ages require further investigation. They probably 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 imprisoned populations. There are also significant rates of diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease, and obesity among black populations.
The bottom line 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 has lost their life due to COVID-19.
Our best hope to prevent further devastation is vaccination. But there, again, we are failing black families.
Although vaccination data are not yet widely available in many states, it appears that black Americans are lagging behind whites. A new analysis by Kaiser Health News in 16 states finds 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 a black population of 38%, only 18% of those vaccinated were black.
One of the main concerns is the lack of access to vaccines. Under President Trump, our national vaccination program against COVID-19 depended significantly on hospital and pharmacy chains, although many poor neighborhoods no longer maintain community hospitals or become “pharmacy deserts”. Hospital closures in segregated communities are well documented and a 2014 study in the prestigious city Health issues the policy newspaper highlighted the desertification of pharmacies in segregated communities in Chicago.
Insufficient health care and access to pharmacies are high rates of denial or hesitation. A recent study I participated in, published in Social Sciences and Medicine and led by Dr. Tim Callaghan of Texas A&M University, found that 31% of Americans had no plans to get vaccinated against COVID-19, with a black 40% more likely not to attempt vaccination. Among the main reasons mentioned were concerns about the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine, as well as the costs and lack of health insurance. A previous study by Kaiser had similar results.
A perfect storm is occurring in black communities across America. 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 denial of the vaccine all work to ensuring that black adults suffer devastating losses.
And now we face the impact of emerging variants.
The variants have already been consolidated in 32 states in the United States and could surpass those 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 could cause a historic tenth of black communities.
Beyond the infrastructure problems needed to improve the health systems of low-income communities, we need to take steps to quickly immunize black Americans before variants. The Biden administration has put forward a solid plan to achieve equity in communities of color and vaccinate the American people in the fall. But with the variants increasing, we are running out of time and we need to complete a national vaccination campaign for the summer. Avoiding a long road to destruction requires an immediate expansion of access to vaccines in black communities.
We must also effectively communicate the dangers of COVID-19 to black Americans, especially those who are middle-aged adults and who will otherwise succumb to the virus. This includes addressing Tuskegee’s horrible legacy in the 20th century and reassuring the black community that vaccination against COVID-19 is not a twisted experiment.
Our message: vaccination offers the only determined way to avoid hospitalization, ICU admission or death.
There is also another important element at stake. In 2019, anti-vaxxer groups specifically targeted communities in Harlem, New York, with a disinformation campaign, as did the Minnesota Somali immigrant community in 2017 and New York Orthodox Jewish groups in 2018 and in 2019. Hesitation may be a consequence of the Harlem anti-vaxxer rallies of 2019. In response, scientists and physicians must strive to reach black audiences through radio programming, podcasts, and zoom calls.
We must counter the terrible claims of anti-vaxxer groups and make it a national priority to prevent dramatic loss of life on an almost unimaginable scale.