More efforts needed to help Black, Hispanic Americans get COVID-19 vaccination

Black, Hispanic Americans lag in COVID-19 vaccination as outreach efforts struggle It’s a life-threatening problem that’s been long predicted - but that few in the government or private sectors have yet done much to solve. Now the consequences are hitting some of America’s most vulnerable communities. Nick Brown U.S.

(Reuters) - It’s a life-threatening problem that’s been long predicted - but that few in the government or private sectors have yet done much to solve. Now the consequences are hitting some of America’s most vulnerable communities.

America’s COVID-19 vaccine drive is failing to reach Black and Hispanic communities, despite pervasive warnings about their lack of healthcare access and heightened vaccine hesitancy, rooted in distrust of the government and historical episodes of medical exploitation.

The issue has been highlighted by polls and government focus groups since last summer. But there’s been no comprehensive national effort to address the problem from the federal government or major philanthropists, leaving a patchwork of underfunded local activists struggling to fill the void, according to Reuters interviews with fifteen nonprofits and philanthropic groups.

The results of inaction are stark: While U.S. communities of color are at higher risk for severe or fatal COVID-19 infections, white people have been vaccinated at twice the rate of Blacks and two-and-a-half times the rate of Hispanics, according to a March 1 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

“We need to get out there and start connecting with people before it’s too late,” said Betsy MacLean, who runs the urban planning nonprofit Hester Street.

Grassroots organizers in Black and Hispanic communities have struggled to secure private or public funding for outreach efforts to promote vaccination. Advocates focused on the issue say philanthropists are juggling competing priorities and tend to view such crisis response as largely the government’s job. The federal government, under the new administration of Democratic President Joe Biden, is only now getting started on serious efforts to promote vaccination in minority communities.

What’s needed, the advocates say, is a nationally coordinated marketing campaign, combined with critical efforts at personal outreach by respected local influencers in communities of color. An effective effort, they said, could cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Some community groups are seeking to revive a nationwide network of nonprofits that helped boost response rates to the 2020 Census in minority communities, saying a similar strategy could work to promote vaccination.

The Biden administration announced Monday that it would spend $250 million to “encourage COVID-19 safety and vaccination among underserved populations,” which could include minority communities but also other vulnerable groups, such as rural residents. Localities will have to apply for that money; grants would finance 30 urban projects and 43 rural projects, according to an administration news release.

The administration also plans to use money from its proposed COVID-19 stimulus package to promote vaccination, in minority communities and others, but the specifics of that effort remain unclear. The White House plans to partner with local officials and nonprofits to overcome government distrust, said Dr. Cameron Webb, the White House’s senior policy adviser for COVID-19 equity. ...