Black, Hispanic Americans lag in COVID-19 vaccination

America’s COVID-19 vaccine drive is failing to reach Black and Hispanic communities.

That's according to a study out earlier this month by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

It found that in the U.S., white people are being vaccinated at twice the rate of African-Americans and two-and-a-half times the rate of Hispanic Americans.

That inequality is both stark, and deadly: communities of color are at higher risk of severe or fatal COVID-19 infections.

But interviews with dozens of nonprofits and philanthropic groups reveal no comprehensive federal effort to address the problem.

PRESIDENT BIDEN: "It's one thing to have efficiency. We have to have equity as well."

Under the new Biden administration, the federal government is only now getting started on serious efforts to promote vaccination in minority communities.

Advocates say what’s needed is a nationally coordinated marketing campaign.

Some want to revive a nationwide network that helped boost response rates to the 2020 Census in minority communities and turn it toward vaccination.

But an effective effort, they said, could cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Another hurdle is mistrust. A Reuters/Ipsos poll in December showed Black people, in particular, were far more likely to fear vaccination than white people.

This week the Biden administration announced that it would spend $250 million dollars to “encourage COVID-19 safety and vaccination among underserved populations" and more money could come from a massive COVID-19 rescue package that is set to go into effect as soon as this week.