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Review
. 2022 Dec;9(6):2334-2339.
doi: 10.1007/s40615-021-01170-w. Epub 2021 Oct 13.

Disproportionate Impact of COVID-19 on Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups in the United States: a 2021 Update

Don Bambino Geno Tai  1 , Irene G Sia  2   3 , Chyke A Doubeni  3   4 , Mark L Wieland  5   6
Affiliations
Review

Disproportionate Impact of COVID-19 on Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups in the United States: a 2021 Update

Don Bambino Geno Tai et al. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2022 Dec.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic's disproportionate impact on people from some racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. persisted throughout 2021. Black, Latinx, and American Indian persons have been hospitalized and died at a higher rate than White persons consistently from the start of the pandemic. Early data show that hospitalization and mortality rates for Black, Latinx, and American Indian children are higher than White children in a worrying trend. The pandemic has likely worsened the gaps in wealth, employment, housing, and access to health care: the social determinants of health that caused the disparities in the first place. School closures will have a long-lasting impact on the widening achievement gaps between Black and Latinx students and White students. In the earlier vaccination phase, Black and Latinx persons were being vaccinated at a lower rate than their proportion of cases due to vaccine hesitancy, misinformation, and barriers to access. Vaccine hesitancy rates among these groups have since decreased and are now comparable to White persons. Aggregated data make it challenging to paint a picture of the actual impact of COVID-19 on Asian Americans as they are a diverse group with significant disparities. All of this highlights that we have much work to do in dismantling systemic racism, engaging communities we serve, and advancing health equity to prepare us for future pandemics and a more just healthcare system.

Keywords: COVID-19 impact; Race and ethnicity; Racial disparities; Systemic racism.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Temporal trends in 30-day running averages in COVID-19 cases, severe cases, and mortality rate by race and ethnicity. Note: Data are from the CDC COVID-19 case surveillance public-use data. Severe cases are defined as hospitalization, use of mechanical ventilation, or presence of acute respiratory distress
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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