10 articles to help HCWs get #VaccineReady this National Minority Health Month

April is National Minority Health Month, which recognizes health disparities in underrepresented populations.

The observance originated in 1915, when educator Booker T. Washington established National Negro Health Week, according to the NIH.

The theme of this year’s event — #VaccineReady — is “especially important” amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Ada Stewart, MD, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, told Healio Primary Care.

“Misinformation often serves as a barrier to getting vaccinated,” she said. “That’s why — in addition to equitable distribution of the vaccine in communities of color — we must ensure access to culturally relevant communication and education, especially for people without access to technology like the internet and smartphones.”

Below, find 10 recent Healio stories that show how COVID-19 has exploited health disparities and what health care providers are doing to address it.

Black individuals at higher risk for COVID-19 infection, hospitalization

Black individuals are twice as likely to test positive for SARS-CoV-2 and require hospitalization compared with white individuals, according to a retrospective analysis published in Annals of the American Thoracic Society. Read more.

Experts discuss ways to combat disproportionate COVID-19 burden in Black community

Leaders in public health held a discussion during the National Medical Association’s virtual convention about how COVID-19 is disproportionately impacting the Black community and other communities of color in the United States. Read more.

Pandemic-related racial and ethnic disparities among young people decreased over time

COVID-19 racial and ethnic disparities among young people, which were “substantial” early in the pandemic, decreased over time last year, mostly because of an increase in cases among white people, researchers reported in MMWR. Read more.

Q&A: Addressing racial disparities in COVID-19

Healio spoke with Don Bambino Geno Tai, MD, MBA, a physician in the division of infectious diseases at Mayo Clinic, to learn more about racial disparities among patients with COVID-19 and what primary care physicians can do to address them. Read more.

Black, Hispanic or Latinx adults twice as likely to report worse COVID-19 access

Black and Hispanic or Latinx individuals in the United States are twice as likely as white individuals to say their access to COVID-19 treatments, vaccines and health care is worse than other racial or ethnic groups, an online poll found. Read more.

Survey finds key groups less accepting of COVID-19 vaccine

Black and Hispanic Medicare beneficiaries were less likely to say they would get a COVID-19 vaccine than white recipients despite being more likely to recognize COVID-19’s increased severity compared with influenza, a survey showed. Read more.

Counties with high social vulnerability have lower COVID-19 vaccination coverage

U.S. counties with high social vulnerability had lower COVID-19 vaccination coverage rates than counties with low social vulnerability during the first few months of rollout efforts, according to research published in MMWR. Read more.

Experts urge HCWs of color to discuss COVID-19 vaccination with underrepresented groups

Prior to the first COVID-19 vaccine that was authorized for emergency use, members of a panel at the National Medical Association’s virtual convention encouraged African American and Latino health care workers to discuss COVID-19 vaccines with underrepresented groups to help ensure these groups are vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2. Read more.

Racial, ethnic minorities with rheumatic disease, COVID-19 more likely to be hospitalized

Black and Hispanic patients with rheumatic diseases plus COVID-19 were more likely to require hospitalization and mechanical ventilation to treat their infections compared with white patients, according to data presented at ACR 2020. Read more.

Who is being left out of COVID-19 research?

As scientists test treatments and vaccines against COVID-19, we asked Infectious Disease News Editorial Board Member Peter Chin-Hong, MD, professor of medicine and director of the transplant infectious disease program at the University of California, San Francisco, which populations are being left out of COVID-19 research and what needs to happen to make the process more inclusive. Read more.

References:

HHS. OMH announces theme for national minority health month 2021. https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/Content.aspx?ID=21522&lvl=2&lvlid=12. Accessed April 19, 2021

NIH. National Minority Health Month. https://www.nimhd.nih.gov/programs/edu-training/nmhm. Accessed April 19, 2021.