Dahleen Glanton: Separate and unequal: Lagging COVID-19 vaccine rates among Blacks and Latinos are a symptom of America's chronic health problem

When it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine, equal access means extra outreach to communities of color

It has been eight weeks since the first COVID-19 vaccine was given in the United States. With more than 41 million dosages administered thus far, African Americans are lagging far behind everyone else.

Of those for whom the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been able to determine race or ethnicity, only about 5.4% are African Americans.

Surprise, surprise.

The vaccine isn’t getting into the arms of people who need it most, particularly Black and Latinos. Though African Americans make up just 13% of the U.S. population, they account for more than 15% of COVID-19 deaths.

It isn’t that no one knew that it would be difficult to reach this population. From the beginning, health officials warned that African Americans would be reluctant to take a new vaccine. For historical reasons, they are less trustworthy of the government.

No one can blame this failure on African Americans, though. Everyone knew there would need to be massive outreach and grassroots programs to counter the systemic health disparities. Most states have done little or nothing.

There has been no advertising blitz. No one has flooded mailboxes in African American and Latino communities with pamphlets telling them how to access vaccines. There has been no robocalls in English and Spanish or volunteers knocking on doors.

Essential workers and people 65 and older are among the first to receive vaccines. Across the country, Blacks and Latinos within these groups have fallen behind.

The problems that created the lack of access won’t magically disappear. As demographics change, health disparities will worsen.

Though the total population of Illinois is shrinking, for example, it continues to age and diversify.

More than 34% of the state’s population is over age 50, and it’s getting older. More than a third in that age range are African American, Latino, Asian American or Pacific Islander.

In large population centers, such as suburban Cook County and Chicago, one-half to two-thirds of older adults are of color.

A new report issued Monday by AARP Illinois, in conjunction with other organizations, sheds light on why these groups are so vulnerable. All of them suffer significantly higher rates of chronic diseases than their white counterparts.

In Chicago, for example, 75% of older African Americans and 64% of older Latinos are diagnosed with high blood pressure, the report said.

It’s a lot harder for these groups to get access to health care. In urban areas, health care providers and pharmacies are concentrated in white neighborhoods, and whites are three times more likely to have a car.

In Chicago, close to a quarter of older adults have difficulty speaking English, while the vast majority of physicians practice English-only.

All of these are barriers contribute to the dismal numbers of African Americans and Latinos who have access to the vaccine. The city and state should have seen this coming and taken steps to move these groups to the front of the vaccine line.

Weeks after the vaccine rollout, Chicago and many other cities are trying to play catch-up. It will be tough making up for so much lost time.

For the most part, there have been few successful attempts to help older African Americans bypass the complex online systems required to make an appointment. Many who are desperate to get the vaccine have no idea how to go about it, and if they figure it out, it’s nearly impossible to get an appointment.

Chicago health officials reported two weeks ago that 1 in 25 Chicagoans had received shots. However, in Englewood, the number was 1 in 66, compared with 1 in 10 in the Loop.

Overall, health officials said, only 1 in 53 Black Chicagoans had been vaccinated and 1 in 45 Latinos. That is shameful in a city where 39% of the COVID-19 deaths are African American and 34% are Latino.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot recently announced plans to boost the number of vaccines in 15 of the city’s most vulnerable neighborhoods. It isn’t clear exactly what the plan entails, but vaccine supplies remain limited.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker last week redirected 97,000 vaccine doses away from pharmacies that oversee vaccinations in nursing homes, but he is not sending them to Chicago. Most are going to southern and central Illinois, with smaller minority populations.

While the immediate problem must be addressed, officials also should be looking at long-term solutions. To overcome the disparities that put Blacks and Latinos communities in this position, we need bold ideas from state and local levels.

In their report, AARP Illinois, the Chicago Urban League, the Resurrection Project and Asian Americans Advancing Justice presented a list of innovative ideas that the governor, the General Assembly, as well as county and city officials, should consider.

Rather than waiting until a crisis such as COVID-19 strikes again, governments and health systems should invest in community-based health equity programs with measurable outcomes on chronic health issues.

This shouldn’t be a quick hit to address a current crisis. It must be a long-term investment of five or more years in order to have a permanent impact on public health, the report said.

In Illinois, 9% of all adults ages 50-64, almost a quarter of a million individuals, lack health insurance coverage. Of that group, only 6% are white, compared with 12% of African Americans and 22% of Latinos.

To improve access to affordable care, there needs to be income-based standards for premiums, copayments, deductibles and out-of-pocket health care costs, the report said. Subsidies should be provided for people with low and moderate incomes.

More than 7 million older adults in the United States are primarily homebound, so telemedicine is an important tool. These services should be expanded to older adults of color and their caregivers. Public and private sector funding is needed to improve access to high-speed internet access and purchase equipment needed for telehealth.

For centuries, America has gotten away with ignoring health inequities for Black people. During a pandemic, everyone pays the price for that neglect.

Unless health officials figure out how to quickly get more vaccines into the arms African Americans and Latinos, COVID-19 will plague the entire country for a very long time.