Matt Hanson reports in American Public Media Research Lab:
Asian Americans surpassed Indigenous and White Americans as the most likely racial group to have been vaccinated, with 27.5% of Asian residents vaccinated to date. Indigenous and White Americans have the next highest vaccination rates, at 26.8% and 26.6%. Black and Latino Americans—who have experienced the highest age-adjusted mortality rates during the pandemic—still appear least likely to have been vaccinated. Some of the racial disparity is explained by differences in the racial and ethnic composition of designated priority groups. The White population is more likely to be in older adult cohorts than other racial and ethnic groups.Based on the limited available data, Black and Latino Americans—who have experienced among the highest age-adjusted mortality rates during the COVID-19 pandemic—still appear least likely to have been vaccinated against COVID-19 so far. Our analysis of the data released by the District of Columbia and 31 state health departments through April 5 shows that Asian Americans have once again surpassed Indigenous and White Americans as the most likely racial group to have been vaccinated, with 27.5% of Asian residents across the reporting states vaccinated to date. Indigenous and White Americans have the next highest vaccination rates, at 26.8% and 26.6% respectively.
While there has been substantial progress in vaccination among all groups, Black and Latino Americans still lag behind the other three groups. Black Americans’ rate (16.4%) and Latino Americans’ rate (15%) are both little more than half the rate of the top two groups. Indigenous Americans’ second-best rate and continued steady improvement is heartening news. As reported in our previous work regarding race and COVID-19, Indigenous Americans have seen the highest mortality rate from COVID-19 of any racial and ethnic group. This faster rate of vaccination may be due to the fact that tribal health programs and urban Indian organizations were given the opportunity to choose whether they received the vaccine through the Indian Health Service (IHS) or their respective states.
As in the early days of the pandemic, when case and mortality data by race was hard to come by, timely vaccination data by race is similarly spotty across states. As of April 5, only the District of Columbia and 31 states had released comparable data about the number and share of their racial and ethnic groups that have received one or more COVID-19 vaccines, hampering our understanding of inoculation efforts and equity. (Notably, these data still do not include populous states such as Illinois or New Jersey. See this table for a list of geographies included. Additional states releasing data after April 5 will be included in subsequent updates.)
Furthermore, the data have poor racial coverage even among the states in our analysis—as more than 15.8 million vaccinated persons (20.4%) do not have racial background specified in states releasing figures. Data gaps notwithstanding, the available picture is concerning for the racially equitable distribution of vaccines.
Presently at least some of the racial disparity in vaccination rates is likely explained by differences in the racial and ethnic composition of the designated priority groups. The White population is more likely to be in older adult cohorts than other racial and ethnic groups, who are younger on balance.
Explore states’ data by racial and ethnic group
Examine the percentage of all residents who have been vaccinated by race and ethnicity for all states that have released data below, or review a table with all available data on vaccinated persons by each race and ethnicity as well as unknown race.
Jump to: ASIAN AMERICANS | BLACK AMERICANS | INDIGENOUS AMERICANS
LATINO AMERICANS | WHITE AMERICANS | TABLE FOR ALL GROUPSASIAN AMERICANS
With a COVID-19 vaccination rate of 27.5%, Asian Americans are the most likely group to have been vaccinated in our latest analysis.
Among the 30 states with available data for Asian Americans, New Mexico (51.4%), Mississippi (40.8%) and Louisiana (38.9%) lead in vaccination rates.
Pennsylvania (1.1%) and Iowa (10.2%) trail all states in this analysis.
BLACK AMERICANS
Black Americans’ rate of COVID-19 vaccination across all states with available data is only 16.4%, second lowest of all racial and ethnic groups.
New Mexico (26.3%) leads all states in vaccinating Black residents, followed by Maryland (23.5%) and Massachusetts (23.2%).
Iowa (4.7%) and Pennsylvania (4.7%) have the lowest vaccination rates of Black residents.
INDIGENOUS AMERICANS
With a vaccination rate of 26.8% across all states with data, Indigenous Americans boast the second highest COVID-19 vaccination rate of all racial and ethnic groups.
More than one quarter of all Indigenous Americans have received at least one dose of the vaccine in seven states, led by Alaska (42.5%), Virginia (42.2%) and New Mexico (40.8%).
At less than 10% of their Indigenous populations vaccinated, five states—Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Vermont—round out the field with the lowest rates of vaccination in this analysis.
LATINO AMERICANS
Latino Americans have the lowest overall COVID-19 vaccination rate across all states with comparable data, with just 15% of Latino residents vaccinated across 29 geographies reporting.
With 32.2% of their Latino population vaccinated (one or more doses), New Mexico leads all states, followed by Missouri (21.1%) and New York (17.9%).
At the other end of the spectrum, Iowa (5.4%) and Pennsylvania (5.3%) have the lowest Latino vaccination rates in this analysis.
WHITE AMERICANS
White Americans have the third highest rate of COVID-19 vaccinations, with 26.6% vaccinated across the 32 geographies that have released comparable vaccination data.
At least 1 in 10 White residents has been vaccinated in all 32 geographies providing data, led by New Mexico (43%), New York (36.6%) and Minnesota (36.3%).
Early vaccine eligibility varies by state
States have varying rules for who may receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Due to (non-binding) CDC guidance reflecting that COVID-19 mortality rates rise steeply with age, older adults have been prioritized in all states. However, the minimum age requirement varies, from age 75 and above in some places to as low as age 60 and above in others. States have also given earliest access to the vaccine to health care workers and (in most states) long-term care residents.
Teachers, grocery store workers, police officers, other essential workers, veterans and high-risk adults have also been prioritized in various combinations—resulting in a patchwork of uneven vaccination eligibility rules state-to-state. In some cases, county-specific eligibility rules have been implemented. Furthermore, scenarios have abounded where non-eligible persons have already received the vaccine.
The Urban Institute reports that while “25 states articulated their intention to consider racial and ethnic equity in their vaccine distributions, many have shifted to age-based criteria amid pressure to distribute vaccines quicker.” However, some states or localities have stressed racial equity in their vaccination plans, such as in Chicago under Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
Notably, the CDC also published an initial analysis about racial groups who received a COVID-19 vaccine during the first month of availability (leading up to Jan. 14, 2021), finding that “the percentage of persons initiating vaccination who were Black appears lower relative to the percentage of persons who are Black among health care personnel and [long-term care facility] residents.” The agency noted that fewer than half of vaccinations in its analysis had racial details, however.
As coverage among designated priority groups increases and vaccine supply improves, states will move toward broader distribution and coverage of their entire populations, toward the goal of “herd immunity.”
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