Black Americans are getting vaccinated at levels lower than expected, state and city data shows

Coronavirus vaccination center.
(Image credit: Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)

Black Americans are getting vaccinated against COVID-19 at rates below their share of the general population, an Associated Press analysis reveals, prompting experts to note yet another example of the pandemic highlighting "racial health inequities" in the United States.

AP reviewed vaccine distribution data broken down by race from 17 states, as well as Philadelphia and Chicago. In Maryland, Black people make up 30 percent of the population, but account for only 16 percent of those vaccinated. That's not to mention the fact that 40 percent of people working in Maryland's health-care industry — a priority group — are Black.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.