When the first cases of COVID-19 were reported in the United States last year, public health officials and community experts warned that Black and other people of colour would be disproportionately hard hit.
Their warning was quickly proven true, with Black, Hispanic and other racialised communities bearing the brunt of infections, deaths and hospitalisations linked to the coronavirus in the year since it began spreading across the country.
Now, many of those experts say a dearth of data on race related to the administration of COVID-19 vaccines risks leaving those same communities behind – or worse, furthering the damage the virus continues to wreak.
Lt. Gov. McKee announces members of COVID-19 advisory group
February 3, 2021 GMT
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) Lt. Gov. Daniel McKee, expected to take over as governor if Gina Raimondo is confirmed as President Joe Biden’s commerce secretary, on Wednesday unveiled the members of a 20-member panel that would advise him on the state’s continued response to the coronavirus pandemic, including vaccination efforts.
The COVID-19 Advisory Group includes medical professionals, lawmakers, municipal and community leaders, and others, and is co-chaired by Dr. John Stoukides, chief of the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at Roger Williams Medical Center, and Johnston Mayor Joseph Polisena, a nurse.
Intensive care units in the Hickory region could reach capacity in a week if COVID-19 hospitalizations remain on the current trend, a report published Dec. 22 predicts.