By Madalyn O'Neill
Mar 17, 2021 2:43 AM
“Communities of color have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19,” said Ajay Sethi, a UW-Madison associate professor of population health sciences.
As of Tuesday, about 24% of white Dane County residents had gotten at least one dose compared to 10% of Black people, 12% of Asian people and 23% of American Indian people in the county. The numbers across the state show similar disparities.
“There’s a history of that, but we don’t want to fall into complacency,” Sethi said.
DHS said in a statement that there’s not one factor that drives the disparities, listing systemic barriers such as a lack of access to quality healthcare, housing, transportation and job opportunities.