CHICAGO — Confirming fears of inequity in COVID-19 vaccinations, newly released state data show that Black and Latino Illinoisans so far have been vaccinated at half the rate of white residents.
And nearly three weeks after the state opened up shots to all senior citizens, a Chicago Tribune analysis of vaccination and census data show wide variation in how many seniors have gotten shots. A handful of counties have now gotten a first shot into at least half those 65 and older, but the vast majority have not, including some where 9 in 10 seniors have yet to get a first shot.
The state Department of Health released the demographic data Friday, becoming one of the last states to do so.
While the data itself offer no explanation for the disparities, the racial and ethnic divide tracks with the concerns of health officials and equity advocates that a higher share of Black and Latino residents may have a harder time lining up shots or be wary of taking them because of past discrimination in medical research.
The disparity in seniors getting shots also tracks with the decentralized nature of injection strategy in Illinois, where each local health department can decide who to prioritize within broad state guidelines. And it could reflect delays in certain areas in a federal program that works with pharmacies to get shots into arms of long-term care residents.
The Tribune downloaded the state data, then compared it with census data that estimates population by race and ethnicity. Such an analysis can be difficult, with race and ethnicity designations overlapping and some residents identifying as more than one race. For its analysis of census data, the Tribune grouped non-Latino white residents of one race, Latino residents of any race, non-Latino Black residents (including those of two or more races), and other residents.
The analysis shows that, as of Friday, 11% of white residents had gotten at least one dose of the two-dose regimen of vaccine shots. The same was true of just 5% of Black residents, and 4% of Latino residents.
There is a chance the rates are higher for minority groups, because in roughly 1 in 10 shots the race and ethnicity of the recipient was not recorded in the data — a lingering problem of pandemic data keeping.
For those over 65 of any race or ethnicity, 26.9% had gotten a first shot as of Friday. Of Illinoisans ages 16 to 64, 8.8% had gotten a first shot.
