Unsurprisingly, White Americans Are Getting the Covid-19 Vaccine While Black Americans Suffer

In completely unsurprising and truly harrowing news, the Associated Press found a huge racial disparity in who is receiving the covid-19 vaccine. After examining 17 states (Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia) and two cities (Philadelphia, PA and Chicago, IL) the news organization determined that Black Americans are receiving inoculations well below their population percentage, while white people are disproportionately getting doses.

In Maryland, where Black people make up 30 percent of the population and 40 percent of the health care industry, they account for only 16 percent of total vaccinations—compare that to white people who have received 67 percent of the vaccinations, though they make up just 55 percent of the population. In North Carolina, where Black people make up 22 percent of the population and 26 percent of the health care industry, they account for only 11 percent of total vaccinations. (82 percent of those vaccinations went to white people.) Cities don’t fare better: In Philly, Black Americans make up 40 percent of the population and have received 14 percent of the vaccinations.