The following is a guest article by Abner Mason, CEO at ConsejoSano.
The U.S. COVID-19 vaccine distribution effort is about to change in a big way. As recent data from the Kaiser Family Foundation suggests, vaccine supply will outstrip demand in just a few weeks, meaning the country will have more shots than available arms. If we are to reach herd immunity, we need to overcome vaccine hesitancy by quenching the public’s thirst for trustworthy relationships and reliable information.
Of course, the idea of a single American public is a myth. The nation is multicultural to its core, and each diverse community responds to certain messages and messengers differently. While a 20-something Black man living in Los Angeles might change his behavior after hearing from a star basketball player, the same tactic is unlikely to sway a 70-year-old evangelical Christian from the Bible Belt.
The good news is that when we know who isn’t getting the COVID-19 vaccine, we can work to change their behavior. The bad news is that we don’t have precise data on which communities are forgoing the vaccine.
As of April 26, the CDC has race and ethnicity data on only 55.4 percent of people who received at least one dose of the vaccine. Although that figure rises to 58.1 percent for fully vaccinated people, the amount of race and ethnicity data collected during this process has been insufficient by any measure.
Gathering and publicly reporting more race, ethnicity, and language data around vaccinations could improve the public health response by enabling governments and healthcare organizations to shift resources as needed. Leaders who take this action would better equip the country to immunize the 70 to 90 percent of the population required to achieve herd immunity. Because my health depends on yours, everyone would benefit.
Putting the pandemic in the rearview mirror is only one advantage of widespread race, ethnicity, and language data reporting. Right now, the U.S. healthcare system has the opportunity to build a foundation that could increase health equity for years to come, in ways unrelated to COVID-19. But how could today’s data influence tomorrow’s health outcomes?
Health Disparities Hurt Patients and Organizations
Diverse Americans have always had it tough in the U.S.
Before the pandemic, more than 10 percent of Black people and 16 percent of Latinx people lacked health insurance coverage, while just under 6 percent of white Americans fell into that category, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Without that basic building block of health, it’s no wonder that one analysis found that diverse patients faced higher rates of chronic health conditions like obesity and asthma, less access to mental health services, and terrifying mortality rates for diseases like cancer.
Longstanding health disparities metastasized with the arrival of COVID-19. Black Americans, for instance, were 2.8 times more likely to be hospitalized and 1.9 times more likely to die from COVID-19 compared to their white neighbors. Latinx and Native American communities saw even greater risk.
While these statistics illustrate the disconnect, they don’t show the pain. Indigenous, Latinx, and Black families have suffered at the hands of this virus, unable to say goodbye to their loved ones and uncertain of whether they would be next. It’s unacceptable in any nation, much less the wealthiest and most powerful in the world.
Health disparities also wage a financial hit on healthcare organizations and the economy at large. Gaps in care translate to $93 billion in medical costs and $42 billion in lost productivity—every single year—according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Race, Ethnicity, and Language Data Can Increase Health Equity
Imagine a world in which governments, health systems, and health plans had constant access to reliable race, ethnicity, and language data on their patients.
Public health challenges—like a flu outbreak or rising diabetes prevalence—could quickly become clear not just by region, but by race and ethnicity. The same data that powered detection of a trend could inform response. A healthcare organization could use that information to determine who to engage and how to complete the task. If Latinx men, ages 25 to 45, in Oklahoma City were experiencing higher rates of asthma, community health workers could begin screening for the condition right away, while public health agencies and health plans performed boots-on-the-ground education.
We know this works because we saw it occur time and again during the pandemic. In New York City, underserved communities appeared to have ample access to COVID-19 vaccines, but sound race and ethnicity data gathering revealed that more than a quarter of recipients lived out of town, and 59 percent were white, according to Bloomberg. That finding prompted local leaders to take action.
In January, just 17 states were reporting COVID-19 vaccination data by race and ethnicity. That number has since grown to 48, yet states are still failing to provide a clear picture of what’s happening in diverse communities. But that doesn’t bar healthcare organizations from diving in and doing the work themselves.
Consider this: The CDC has age and sex data for about 92 percent of vaccine recipients. Gathering race and ethnicity data doesn’t require much beyond a few extra survey questions.
Once we obtain race, ethnicity, and language data, we have it forever. Healthcare leaders can use those insights to close the health outcome gaps that have persisted in underserved communities for far too long. Patients, no matter their skin color or zip code, may finally get a fair shot.
But to eventually make those powerful strides toward health equity, we need to take a small step forward today.
About Abner Mason
Abner Mason is founder and CEO of ConsejoSano, a multicultural patient engagement company that partners with health plans. He has worked in health equity and policy at the federal and state levels.
