Do African Americans In Louisiana Have Equal Access To The Vaccine? We Can’t Say

By Julie O'Donoghue, the Louisiana Illuminator

January 22, 2021

Louisiana doesn’t know the race or ethnicity identity of over half of the people who have received a COVID-19 vaccine shot in the state, making it difficult to determine whether minorities are underrepresented in vaccine distribution across the state — as some have feared would happen.

In total, only 10 percent of people who have been vaccinated identified as Black, 33 percent identified as White, and 36 percent identified as “other”. The race and ethnicity of 20 percent of people who have received a vaccine shot is unknown.

With such a large percentage of people who have received a vaccine shot being unknown, it’s hard to determine whether Black people and other minorities are underrepresented, said Thomas LaVeist, death of Tulane University’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. LaVeist is also the co-chair of the state’s COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force.

“I don’t think this proves inequity and I don’t think it’s right to interpret the data that way,” he said. “The jury is still out on it.”

Joe Kanter, the state’s top medical officer, says the demographic information is poor because providers aren’t prioritizing tracking it. He hopes the demographic reporting will improve next week.

“We have no way to track this unless we get the good information,” Kanter said at a press conference Thursday.

It’s not known what percentage of the people who qualify for the vaccine are minorities, including what percentage are Black, LaVeist said. The largest cohorts of people are those who work for a health care system, people who live in nursing homes and people who are 70 years old and over.

Black people make up about a third of Louisiana’s population in general, but they likely make up a small percentage of the people who qualify to receive the vaccine, he said. People who are Black have shorter lifespan due to current health care inequities, and make up a small percentage of the state’s population 70 years and older, LaVeist said.

There has been some concern that the Black community, in particular, might be reluctant to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. State entities have a history of conducting experiments on the Black community, which has sowed distrust. Black patients are also not treated as well by health care providers in general, which can make them skeptical of care, LaVeist said.

National surveys show the Black community is more hesitant to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. In a June survey by the Louisiana Public Health Institute, 49% of Black respondents said they would take the vaccine, compared to 59 percent of White respondents.

The Louisiana Illuminator is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization driven by its mission to cast light on how decisions are made in Baton Rouge and how they affect the lives of everyday Louisianians, particularly those who are poor or otherwise marginalized.