IF YOU ARE FULLY VACCINATED
CDC has updated its guidance for people who are fully vaccinated. See Recommendations for Fully Vaccinated People.
IMPORTANT UPDATE FOR SCHOOLS
CDC recommends schools continue to use the current COVID-19 prevention strategies for the 2020-2021 school year. Learn more
Important update: Healthcare facilities
CDC has updated select ways to operate healthcare systems effectively in response to COVID-19 vaccination. Learn more
UPDATE
Getting vaccinated prevents severe illness, hospitalizations, and death. Unvaccinated people should get vaccinated and continue masking until they are fully vaccinated. With the Delta variant, this is more urgent than ever. CDC has updated guidance for fully vaccinated people based on new evidence on the Delta variant.
UPDATE
Given new evidence on the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant, CDC has updated the guidance for fully vaccinated people. CDC recommends universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status. Children should return to full-time in-person learning in the fall with layered prevention strategies in place.

Health Equity Considerations and Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups

Health Equity Considerations and Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups
Updated Apr. 19, 2021
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Black doctor and patient, wearing masks and talking

Health equity is when all members of society enjoy a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. Public health policies and programs centered around the specific needs of communities can promote health equity.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought social and racial injustice and inequity to the forefront of public health. It has highlighted that health equity is still not a reality as COVID-19 has unequally affected many racial and ethnic minority groups, putting them more at risk of getting sick and dying from COVID-19.  [1], [2] The term “racial and ethnic minority groups” includes people of color with a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. Negative experiences are common to many people within these groups, and some social determinants of health have historically prevented them from having fair opportunities for economic, physical, and emotional health. [3] Social determinants of health are the conditions in the places where people live, learn, work, play, and worship that affect a wide range of health risks and outcomes.

Factors that contribute to increased risk

Many factors, such as poverty and healthcare access, are intertwined and have a significant influence on the people’s health and quality-of-life. [3] Racial and ethnic minority populations are disproportionately represented among essential workers and industries, which might be contributing to COVID-19 racial and ethnic health disparities. “Essential workers” are those who conduct a range of operations and services in industries that are essential to ensure the continuity of critical functions in the United States, from keeping us safe, to ensuring food is available at markets , to taking care of the sick . A majority of these workers belong to and live within communities disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Essential workers are inherently at higher risk of being exposed to COVID-19 due to the nature of their work, and they are disproportionately representative of racial and ethnic minority groups.

Doctor wearing protective work wear injecting COVID-19 vaccine to soldier

Nurse wearing mask and talking with patient

Farmworkers collecting fresh crops

To achieve health equity, CDC is committed to understanding and appropriately addressing the needs of all populations, according to specific cultural, linguistic, and environmental factors. By ensuring health equity is integrated across all public health efforts, all communities will be stronger, safer, healthier, and more resilient.

Factors affecting health equity: Some of the many inequities in the social determinants of health that put racial and ethnic minority groups at increased risk of getting sick and dying from COVID-19 include:

  • Discrimination: Unfortunately, discrimination exists in systems meant to protect well-being or health. Examples of such systems include health care, housing, education, criminal justice, and finance. Discrimination, which includes racism, can lead to chronic and toxic stress, and shapes social and economic factors that put some people from racial and ethnic minority groups at increased risk for COVID-19. [5], [6]
  • Healthcare access and use: People from some racial and ethnic minority groups face multiple barriers to accessing health care. Issues such as lack of insurance[10], transportation, child care, or ability to take time off of work can make it hard to go to the doctor. Cultural differences between patients and providers as well as language barriers affect patient-provider interactions and health care quality. [8] Inequities in treatment [9] and historical events, like the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the African American Male and sterilization without people’s permission, might also explain why some people from racial and ethnic minority groups do not trust healthcare systems and the government. [10], [11], [12], [13]
  • Occupation: People in racial and ethnic minority groups often work in essential settings, such as healthcare facilities, farms, factories, grocery stores, and public transportation [14] Working in these settings can lead to more chances of exposure to COVID-19.
  • Educational, income, and wealth gaps: Overall, people from some racial and ethnic minority groups have less access to high-quality education. Without a high-quality education, people face greater challenges in getting jobs that offer options for minimizing exposure to COVID-19[16]. People with limited job options likely have less flexibility to leave jobs that might put them at a higher risk of exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19. They often cannot afford to miss work, even if they’re sick, because they do not have enough money saved up for essential items like food and other important living needs.
  • Housing: Living in crowded conditions can make it very difficult to separate when you are or may be sick. A higher percentage of people from racial and ethnic minority groups live in crowded housing as compared to non-Hispanic White people and therefore may be more likely to be exposed to COVID-19.

These factors and others are associated with more COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in areas where racial and ethnic minority groups live, learn, work, play, and worship. [7], [17], [18] They have also contributed to higher rates of some medical conditions that increase one’s risk of severe illness from COVID-19. In addition, community strategies to slow the spread of COVID-19 might cause unintentional harm, such as lost wages, reduced access to services, and increased stress, for some racial and ethnic minority groups. [19]

We all have a part in helping to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and promoting fair access to health.​ To do this, we have to work together to ensure that people have resources to maintain and manage their physical and mental health in ways that fit the communities where people live, learn, work, play, and worship.

Data on COVID-19 and Race and Ethnicity

CDC resources

Other resources

References