Maryland Has Largest Vaccination Gap Among Black Residents In The Nation
Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- For your situational awareness, on Friday the New York Times published an analysis of state-reported race and ethnicity data showing Maryland as a state with the largest gap between the Black share of the general population and the vaccinated population.
Maryland has continued to struggle with equitably vaccinating communities of color. Prince George's County has by far the most coronavirus cases in Maryland, but the lowest percentage of vaccinated residents. From Dec. 14 through Feb. 28, all but one of Maryland's six most populous jurisdictions received below-average per capita allocations of first vaccine doses -- and three were in the bottom five.
While Governor Hogan has sought to blame poor vaccine equity data on vaccine hesitancy, thousands of Black Marylanders are still on waitlists. Local elected leaders have consistently advocated for a greater focus on equity in the state's vaccination strategy including; a one-stop portal for vaccine appointment sign-ups, reserving times at the Six Flags mass vaccination site for Prince George's residents, greater targeting and vaccine allocations to the hardest hit zip codes in Maryland.
"Governor Hogan needs to take immediate action to improve vaccine equity in our state. The Hogan Administration had months to plan and create an equitable system that would quickly and equitably vaccinate every Marylander. Residents in communities of color have been left behind," said Congressman Brown. "Maryland's consistently poor vaccination rates among communities of color is unacceptable. Community leaders have proposed numerous solutions to address these issues. It's time for Governor Hogan to step up to challenge and deliver for residents."
White Marylanders have received more than four times as many doses of coronavirus vaccine as Black residents, state data shows. Black Marylanders have received only 16 percent of first doses, yet account for approximately 35 percent of COVID-19 deaths and make up 31 percent of Maryland's population. Only around 4% of inoculations have gone to Latinos.
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