Demographic Benchmarks for Equitable Coverage of COVID-19 Vaccination

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Kushagra Vashist, Emory University; Tabia Akintobi, Morehouse College; Robert Bednarczyk, Emory University; Kabayam Venkat Narayan, Emory University; Shivani Patel, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2021-08-01
• Publisher: Elsevier Inc.
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2021 American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2021.04.001
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: American Journal of Preventive Medicine
• Volume: 61
• Issue: 2
• Start Page: 291
• End Page: 293
• Grant/Funding Information: KMVN, TA, and RAB were supported in part by Georgia CEAL (16-312-0217571-66105); SAP, KMVN, and TA were supported in part by Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics Underserved Populations (P30DK111024-05S1); SAP and KMVN were supported in part by Grant Number 77624 from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
• Keywords: General & Internal Medicine; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Medicine, General & Internal; United States; Science & Technology
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Pharmacology; Sociology, Demography; Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery; Health Sciences, Public Health

Abstract

After a year of unprecedented social distancing and >530,000 American deaths due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), 3 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccines are authorized for emergency use. Federal and state authorities based vaccination priorities on employment in high-exposure occupations essential to everyday life and on vulnerability to severe COVID-19 disease.1 By virtue of employment in high-exposure occupations2 and experience of severe COVID-19 disease and death,3 people of color—especially Black, Hispanic, and Native Americans—are expected to be prioritized for early vaccination. Yet, reports suggest that public vaccination sites are less likely to be in communities of color in the South4 and that racial and ethnic minorities are overall more hesitant than White Americans to take the vaccine.5 , 6 Understanding the demographic composition of the U.S. population prioritized for vaccination is critical to track equity in vaccine coverage and to better tailor health communication strategies. The authors report the racial and ethnic, age, sex, and regional distribution of non-institutionalized populations prioritized for COVID-19 vaccination.