The Devastating Cost of Racial and Ethnic Health Inequity in the COVID-19 Pandemic

• Published in: Journal of the National Medical Association Vol. 113; no. 1; pp. 114 - 117
• Main Authors: Lee, Ian J., Ahmed, Nasar U.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.02.2021; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: African Americans; African Americans - statistics & numerical data; Continental Population Groups - statistics & numerical data; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 - ethnology; COVID-19 - mortality; COVID-19 pandemic; Ecological Model; Fatalities; Health disparities; Health inequity; Health Status Disparities; Healthcare Disparities - ethnology; Healthcare Disparities - statistics & numerical data; Humans; Minority & ethnic groups; Mortality; Race ethnicity; Racism; Risk Factors; Social justice; United States - epidemiology; Vulnerable population; Vulnerable Populations - statistics & numerical data; United States; New York; United States > US; COVID-19 pandemic; Social justice; Health inequity; Ecological Model; Vulnerable population; Race ethnicity
• ISSN: 0027-9684; 1943-4693
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jnma.2020.11.015

The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the devastating truth about pervasive health inequity in the United States. As the virus swept through the country, underserved racial and ethnic minority populations disproportionately bore the brunt of the hospitalizations, severe illness, and fatalities. The devastation among these groups far outstripped their privileged counterparts due to convergence of disadvantages that created a perfect storm of exposures. We used empirical evidence incorporated into a theoretical framework analyzing vulnerabilities that have long plagued these communities. These exposures were further exacerbated by the rapid transmission of this virus and impaired the capability of these communities to escape illness and death due to a lack of adequate public health and medical responses. Will the aftermath of this coronavirus prove to be a reckoning for how American society addresses the conditions of most vulnerable populations or another ignored data-point? We suggest some policy steps to address the problem.