Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
The Biden administration announced on Tuesday they will start delivering vaccines directly to community health centers next week in an effort to promote more equity in the vaccine distribution process.
Why it matters: Black and Hispanic people have been disproportionally impacted by the coronavirus, with higher rates of death while being vaccinated at much lower rates compared to white Americans.
Details: The administration will begin by allocating 1 million doses of vaccines to community health centers, making it initially available to nearly 250 sites in all 50 states.
- According to Politico, the White House will direct the first available doses to facilities that serve large numbers of people who are "migrant workers, residents of public housing or are experiencing homelessness."
Background: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report last week showing of the 52% of people vaccinated 60% of those inoculated were white while 11.5% were Hispanic, 6% were Asian and just over 5% were Black.
- Experts attribute part of the disparity to lack on transportation to sites, inability to take off of work and exhaustive registration websites.
- People of color, especially Black people are more hesitant to take the vaccine because of medical mistrust, and the history of unethical medical practices such as the Tuskegee Experiment. Civil rights leaders and Black sports icons are publicly taking COVID-19 vaccines to help build trust in the vaccine.