Letter to the Hon. Xavier Becerra, Secretary-designate of the US Department of Health and Human Services - Meng Leads Call for New HHS Secretary-Designate to Collect and Provide Demographic Data on COVID-19 Vaccinations to Address Health Disparities for Vulnerable Populations

Letter

Dear Secretary-designate Becerra:
We write to bring to your attention the urgent need for a national demographic breakdown of administered
COVID-19 vaccines. As such, we urge you to collect, disseminate, and make publicly available demographic
breakdown of already administered and future administration of COVID-19 vaccines. Absence of this data
breakdown could indirectly increase existing health disparities, and thereby undermine the entire vaccination
process and jeopardize our national health and recovery from this pandemic.
As you know, the impact of COVID-19 on seniors and communities of color, in particular Asian American,
Black, Latinx, and tribal communities, is extremely heartbreaking. The pandemic has only exacerbated already
existing vulnerabilities and inequalities, particularly in access to health care. Furthermore, inadequate access to
the COVID-19 vaccine increases health disparities among vulnerable populations across the United States.
As the federal government works through the logistical challenge of vaccinating hundreds of millions of
people across the United States, it is imperative that there is equity -- as well as publicly available data -- on the
administration process. A demographic breakdown of COVID-19 vaccination would help ensure health equity
and strengthen our country's ability to overcome this national public health emergency.
We, therefore, request that the vaccine administration process include the measures discussed above and would
appreciate your response to the following questions:
1. What kind of data on administered COVID-19 vaccines has the CDC received from all states,
territories, and localities?
2. Has the CDC collected demographic breakdown of administered COVID-19 vaccines from all states,
territories, and localities?
a. If so, what is the breakdown? Does it include race, ethnicity, age, zip code, occupation,
disability status, gender, and sexual orientation (if available)?
b. If so, does this data breakdown by congressional districts?
c. Will it be made publicly available?
3. If the CDC has not collected demographic breakdown of administered COVID-19 vaccines, will the
CDC begin doing so and when?
4. What is the CDC doing to ensure that social vulnerability in vaccine distribution is addressed?
We look forward to hearing from you on this urgent matter.

Source