A politically charged debate has ereaked a debate about plans to distribute a imaginable COVID-19 vaccine among communities of color and immigrant populations most affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the federal government’s immunization plan relies too much on existing personal pharmacies, hospitals, and physical care infrastructure that are to blame for the inequity of American medicine.
“Infrastructure will have a discriminatory effect because infrastructure exists to the same extent in poor communities and black and brown communities,” he said at a press conference on Monday.
Instead, the federal plan offers more investment to state governments and network organizations to prioritize vaccines in communities of color with the highest rates of COVID-19 infection and mortality, said Cuomo, a Democrat.
African-Americans are 3 times more likely to get coronavirus and nearly twice as likely to die of COVID-19 than whites in the United States, according to the knowledge of the National Urban League and the Johns Hopkins Center for Equity in Health.
Across the country, Latinos are 4 times more likely than targets to be hospitalized due to COVID-19, according to the knowledge of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But it’s not the first time
Cuomo also questioned a federal request for state fitness departments to provide non-public data to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, adding name, address, date of birth, race, ethnicity, gender, and an identity number.
“The term” identification number “refers to a Social Security number, driver’s license number or passport number, Cuomo wrote in a letter to federal officials.
The letter, which Cuomo signed as president of the National Association of Governors, asked for an explanation of the factor and said knowledge of the vaccine would remain in the Trump administration’s immigration program unrelated to COVID-19.
Cuomo expressed fear that “information, without due guarantees, could be used through non-health agencies such as the U. S. Department of Homeland Security or Immigration and Customs to publicize the administration’s anti-immigrant policies and its relentless prosecution of undocumented immigrants. “
White House officials, however, questioned Cuomo’s claims, saying that federal officials were not in favor of social security numbers, driver’s licenses or passports, but that the plan seeks minimum non-public data to ensure that other people get the right dose of vaccine at the time, officials. Said.
Michael Bars, a White House spokesman, issued a reaction to Cuomo’s comments.
“The truth is, having been absent from the 17 back-to-back informational meetings reserved for governors in the past five months, the governor is not prepared for states to formulate their vaccine distribution plans,” he said.
Bars added that “Cuomo’s politically motivated attacks are counterproductive and reflect a deep lack of understanding of the complex public aptitude demands related to the administration of an effective vaccine in New York and communities across the country. “
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The governor’s spokesman briefings of White House governors “a waste of time and nothing but political propaganda. “
The confrontation over the fair deployment of a COVID-19 vaccine came after Cuomo unveiled a draft state-level plan last month to distribute it first to high-risk populations and physical care in New York City.
The White House has defended its vaccine planning, which is part of the federal effort called Operation Warp Speed that aims to “provide millions of doses of an effective vaccine” through January 2021, according to federal records and officials.
US Surgeon General Jerome Adams recently discussed federal efforts for diversity in clinical trials and distribution plans for the COVID-19 vaccine.
“It would be a wonderful tragedy if we had literally a safe and effective vaccine to end this pandemic, however, to note that disparities have actually worsened because other people who can get the maximum benefits can’t or don’t want to take them. “Adams said at a press conference on October 23.
As a component of this effort, the U. S. Health and Human Services Decomposer is a component of this effort. But it’s not the first time He commissioned the National Academy of Medicine to expand a framework that was taken into account when implementing the federal immunization plan, according to Adams.
“We seek feedback from other independent people across the country,” he said.
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Federal officials described the immunization plan as a public-private partnership based on existing immunization networks in pharmacy chains, such as CVS and Walgreens, as well as federally qualified hospitals and gyms in low-income communities.
They estimated that there would be about 70,000 people who would provide a long-term COVID-19 vaccine.
In the midst of the debate, polls show that among racial and ethnic groups, black Americans are the most reluctant to get vaccinated once it becomes available, and their skepticism is developing rapidly.
In a September survey, 32% of black adults said they would get a vaccine, up from 54% in May.
In a recent concentration group, black participants cited systemic racism for their doubts and cited the government-backed Tuskegee Syphilis study, in which black men were told they were receiving lax medical care, but were denied the remedy for syphilis for decades.
“I have said that disparities in vaccines are among our greatest social injustices, and we know that lack of acceptance as true is the underlying cause of much unseatment, especially in communities of color,” Adams said.
“That’s why first of all we want to recognize these valid considerations about a history of abuse and exploitation of minority equipment across the medical network and the government,” he added.
Starting with the immunization campaign, the Federal Office of Minority Health also funded a $40 million cooperation agreement with Morehouse University, which supports awareness and ties for the care of racial and ethnic minority communities, Adams said.
Instead, Cuomo said federal officials planned to supply $140 million to states nationwide for vaccine distribution, and called it inadequate to achieve a great operational effort that will be even more complicated than COVID-19 testing for millions of Americans.
Marc Morial, president and ceo of the National Urban League, the federal immunization plan is an injustice to communities of color, speaking Sunday at a press conference with Cuomo.
Morial proposed incorporating schools, network centers, churches, religious organizations and small employers into vaccine distribution, released old examples of immunization.
“When I was a kid, in my hometown of New Orleans, I queued outside at my local school for a polio vaccine,” he said, urging federal officials to be informed of the past.
“Why not perceive the demanding situations we face with health care disparities and design a program and design a technique that ensures that all Americans have a fair, equivalent and timely vaccine,” he added.
In addition, black Americans are the most reluctant to get vaccinated against COVID-19
During the meeting, Derrick Johnson, president and CHIEF executive of the NAACP, affirmed the federal government’s reaction to the pandemic in ignored communities of color, which are more vulnerable to COVID-19 due to the negative effects of systemic racism.
“The personal sector and the fitness care industry have focused on caring for African Americans and other low-income communities,” he said.
“Therefore, we have no explanation in the country why this plan (COVID-19 vaccine) is lately designed to provide the necessary assistance to allow this country to heal. “
USA TODAY contributed to this report.
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David Robinson is usa’s fitness reporter TODAY New York. It can be drobinson@gannett. com and followed on Twitter: @DrobinsonLoHud