The demographics of COVID-19 deaths has changed
Published October 3, 2021 at 6:54 AM CDT
... ARTIGA: So when we look at the very latest data on case rates and death rates, there is little difference in terms of rates per 100,000 among white, Black and Hispanic people. Again, this is not controlling for age. When we control for age, usually, we see larger disparities because people of color tend to be a younger population. If we look at the - how the pandemic has evolved over time, initially, much of the surge was in urban areas, which are more racially diverse. We've now seen since late 2020 that a lot of the virus has been occurring in more rural areas. At the same time, we know that there are lower vaccination rates among rural areas and that rural areas are home to larger shares of white residents. So that geographic change over time in the spread of the virus may be leading to increased spread among the white population...
ARTIGA: I think it's important to recognize that while the demographic patterns of who's being most affected by the pandemic right now are shifting, that the underlying structural inequities that placed people of color and low-income populations at increased risk at the outset of the pandemic have not changed. And so they still remain at increased risk as the pandemic continues to evolve and as potential future health threats may emerge ...
https://www.iowapublicradio.org/2021-10-03/how-the-demographics-of-covid-19-deaths-has-changed-since-vaccinations-became-available