Upheaval at the country’s top public health agency has left millions of Americans uncertain about access to the updated COVID-19 vaccines at a moment when rising case numbers threaten to disproportionately harm Black Americans. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the new shots in August. But it narrowed eligibility to people who are 65 […]
COVID-19
Posted inCOVID-19, Health, Politics & Policy
COVID Guidelines Just Changed. Black Americans Could Pay the Price.
The Trump administration has declared an end to COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for children and pregnant people, and health experts have a warning: This is a threat to Black communities. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who oversees the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, announced the decision on May 27 and […]
Posted inCOVID-19, Health, Partner Content, Politics & Policy
The Fight to Be Believed: Long COVID’s Toll on Black Americans
This article is part of a collaboration with the Associated Press, Capital B, and Flint Beat. The work is part of the AP Inclusive Journalism Initiative supported by the Sony Foundation. Chimére L. Sweeney, a Maryland middle school teacher, was preparing to lead one of her first online classes after the pandemic shutdowns in March […]
Posted inCOVID-19, Health
The New COVID-19 Vaccine Is Rolling Out. Here’s What Black Americans Should Know.
Amid the recent uptick in COVID hospitalizations, a new round of vaccines is being introduced. The shots could be particularly important for Black Americans, who have continued to show an increased risk for severe complications from the virus. Although much smaller than past spikes, COVID deaths have risen above 1,000 per week this month and […]
Posted inCOVID-19, Health
Holiday Travel Is Risky This Year. Here’s How to Stay Safe During the ‘Tripledemic.’
Winter viruses have been surging in recent weeks, in the midst of the year’s busiest travel season. As families prepare to crowd onto planes and gather at holiday dinner tables, overcrowded emergency rooms from Philadelphia to Los Angeles are grappling with hours-long wait times and record-high patient admissions. The rush has been largely fueled by […]
Posted inCOVID-19, Health
Diabetes Diagnoses Doubled for Black Youth During the Pandemic
Diagnosis of type 2 diabetes doubled among Black children during the first year of the pandemic but decreased among white youth, according to a new study. The first year of the COVID-19 pandemic also saw a higher proportion of young diabetes patients with severe symptoms compared to years prior. The trend suggests that the racial […]
Posted inCOVID-19, Health
Talking About COVID-19’s Racial Disparities Makes White People Care Less. But There’s An Exception.
Soon after COVID-19 spread across the United States, the racial disparities became clear: Black Americans’ chances of dying after infection were — and remain — twice that of white Americans. The realization spurred discussion in news reports across the country about health inequities. But highlighting the racial disparities in COVID-19 infection and death made some white […]
Posted inCOVID-19, Health
As COVID Precautions Drop, Black Americans Remain More Affected — and More Concerned
Pastor Robert Pope has been talking about COVID-19 since the virus first took hold. He talks about it at the gas station, at restaurants, and – most frequently – at his church. Pope has made Encanto Southern Baptist Church in San Diego a hub for pandemic education, testing and vaccination. He’s been following the statistics, […]
Posted inCOVID-19, Health
COVID-19 Remains the Great Unequalizer
Soon after the coronavirus arrived in the United States, the racial inequities of its devastating toll became apparent: Black people were dying at twice the rate of whites. The data shocked some Americans. Others panicked. The role that race and ethnicity play in Americans’ health outcomes became headline news as the numbers were broadcast across […]
Posted inCOVID-19, Health
The Reading List: Black Communities and COVID-19
Not long after the first COVID-19 case was detected in the United States, the virus began to devastate Black families. Black Americans are nearly three times as likely to be hospitalized due to the virus than white Americans, and twice as likely to die, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control […]