Research

CDC and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health developed the Minority Health Social Vulnerability Index to help identify minority communities that may need support before, during and after the pandemic.

This article from the Kaiser Family Foundation describes the latest data on COVID-19 vaccinations by race/ethnicity. 

CDC presents COVID-19 vaccination data, which can be viewed in relation to location, the social vulnerability index, vaccination status and age. 

This Kaiser Family Foundation report presents an update on the status of COVID-19 cases and deaths, vaccinations and treatments by race/ethnicity as of fall 2022, based on federal data reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although the pandemic has contributed to growing awareness and focus on addressing racial disparities, this report shows that they persist, reflecting the underlying structural inequities that drive them. The findings highlight the importance of a continued focus on equity and efforts to address inequities that leave people of color at increased risk for exposure, illness and death as well as to close gaps in access to health care, including COVID-19 treatments.

The National Association of Community Health Workers outline resources to support community-based organizations and workforces in making informed decisions around COVID-19 vaccines and testing with a health equity lens.

Lagevrio and Paxlovid are oral antiviral drugs effective at preventing hospitalization and death in patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 who are at risk for progression to severe disease. This article reviews the rate and pattern of oral antiviral drugs dispensed in the U.S. from Dec. 23, 2021-May 21, 2022. Additional public health, regulatory and policy efforts might help decrease barriers to oral antiviral access, particularly in communities with high social vulnerability.

Public Health Reports provides commentary on how to improve vaccination rates by developing creative strategies for overcoming barriers to vaccination access.

This article examines how global vaccine inequity arose, lays out a renewed case for urgently ramping up the commitment to vaccine equity and proposes principles to ensure no one is left behind in the quest to vaccinate the world.

In this MMWR, authors discuss the low vaccination coverage in children, especially in high social vulnerability index areas, the likely contributors to low vaccination coverage and ongoing strategies to improve vaccine coverage among children aged 5-11 years.

COVID-19 vaccination coverage was lower in rural counties than urban counties, and the authors of this MMWR discuss the various contributing factors to this disparity in vaccine coverage.

This MMWR article explored racial and ethnic disparities in outpatient COVID-19 treatment through July 2022, encouraging the expansion of programs to increase awareness of and access to available outpatient COVID-19 treatments to help protect people at high risk for severe illness and facilitate equitable health outcomes.

The authors of this research letter highlighted in JAMA Internal Medicine conducted semi-structured interviews to determine reasons for low vaccination rates in Black communities and preferred strategies to promote COVID-19 vaccination.

This paper in The Lancet explores the indirect effects that COVID-19 has had on gender disparities globally. The most significant gender gaps identified showed intensified levels of pre-existing widespread inequalities between women and men during the pandemic.

Oxford University Press created collections of published material and research on equity and health care.

This article provides background on how structural racism and police violence have affected mothers and babies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors outline why more research is needed and provide resources pertaining to racism, violence and COVID-19.

This page summarizes NIH-funded research on converging health threats in Black communities.