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COVID-19 Healthcare Inequity: Lessons Learned from Annual Influenza Vaccination Rates to Mitigate COVID-19 Vaccine Disparities

The COVID-19 pandemic has infected 33 million Americans and resulted in more than 600,000 deaths as of late Spring 2021. Black, Indigenous, and Latinx (BIL) people are disproportionately infected, hospitalized, and dying. Effective vaccines were rapidly developed and have been widely available in th...

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Autores principales: Bazan, Isabel S., Akgün, Kathleen M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: YJBM 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8461587/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34602888
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author Bazan, Isabel S.
Akgün, Kathleen M.
author_facet Bazan, Isabel S.
Akgün, Kathleen M.
author_sort Bazan, Isabel S.
collection PubMed
description The COVID-19 pandemic has infected 33 million Americans and resulted in more than 600,000 deaths as of late Spring 2021. Black, Indigenous, and Latinx (BIL) people are disproportionately infected, hospitalized, and dying. Effective vaccines were rapidly developed and have been widely available in the United States since their initial rollout in late 2020-early 2021 but vaccination rates in BIL communities have remained low compared with non-BIL communities. Limited access to the vaccine, lack of customized information, and mistrust of the medical system, all contribute to vaccine hesitancy and low vaccination rates. Regrettably, COVID-19 is not the only vaccine-preventable illness with racial/ethnic inequities. Similar inequities are seen with the seasonal influenza vaccine. We review the racial/ethnic health disparities in COVID-19 illness and vaccination rates and what inequities contribute to these disparities. We use evidence from the seasonal influenza vaccination efforts to inform potential strategies to attenuate these inequities. The development of effective and sustainable strategies to improve vaccination rates and reduce factors that result in health inequities is essential in managing current and future pandemics and promoting improved health for all communities.
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spelling pubmed-84615872021-09-30 COVID-19 Healthcare Inequity: Lessons Learned from Annual Influenza Vaccination Rates to Mitigate COVID-19 Vaccine Disparities Bazan, Isabel S. Akgün, Kathleen M. Yale J Biol Med Perspectives The COVID-19 pandemic has infected 33 million Americans and resulted in more than 600,000 deaths as of late Spring 2021. Black, Indigenous, and Latinx (BIL) people are disproportionately infected, hospitalized, and dying. Effective vaccines were rapidly developed and have been widely available in the United States since their initial rollout in late 2020-early 2021 but vaccination rates in BIL communities have remained low compared with non-BIL communities. Limited access to the vaccine, lack of customized information, and mistrust of the medical system, all contribute to vaccine hesitancy and low vaccination rates. Regrettably, COVID-19 is not the only vaccine-preventable illness with racial/ethnic inequities. Similar inequities are seen with the seasonal influenza vaccine. We review the racial/ethnic health disparities in COVID-19 illness and vaccination rates and what inequities contribute to these disparities. We use evidence from the seasonal influenza vaccination efforts to inform potential strategies to attenuate these inequities. The development of effective and sustainable strategies to improve vaccination rates and reduce factors that result in health inequities is essential in managing current and future pandemics and promoting improved health for all communities. YJBM 2021-09-30 /pmc/articles/PMC8461587/ /pubmed/34602888 Text en Copyright ©2021, Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC BY-NC license, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
spellingShingle Perspectives
Bazan, Isabel S.
Akgün, Kathleen M.
COVID-19 Healthcare Inequity: Lessons Learned from Annual Influenza Vaccination Rates to Mitigate COVID-19 Vaccine Disparities
title COVID-19 Healthcare Inequity: Lessons Learned from Annual Influenza Vaccination Rates to Mitigate COVID-19 Vaccine Disparities
title_full COVID-19 Healthcare Inequity: Lessons Learned from Annual Influenza Vaccination Rates to Mitigate COVID-19 Vaccine Disparities
title_fullStr COVID-19 Healthcare Inequity: Lessons Learned from Annual Influenza Vaccination Rates to Mitigate COVID-19 Vaccine Disparities
title_full_unstemmed COVID-19 Healthcare Inequity: Lessons Learned from Annual Influenza Vaccination Rates to Mitigate COVID-19 Vaccine Disparities
title_short COVID-19 Healthcare Inequity: Lessons Learned from Annual Influenza Vaccination Rates to Mitigate COVID-19 Vaccine Disparities
title_sort covid-19 healthcare inequity: lessons learned from annual influenza vaccination rates to mitigate covid-19 vaccine disparities
topic Perspectives
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8461587/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34602888
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