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This brief reviews why racial diversity within COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials is important, discusses the barriers to participation in clinical trials among people of color, and examines the racial/ethnic composition of clinical trial participants for the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.
Across states, data to understand access to and uptake of the vaccine by race/ethnicity and other demographic factors will be central to efforts to ensure equity. KFF is compiling and will regularly update state-reported data on vaccination by race/ethnicity through its COVID-19 state data and policy tracker.
A new KFF analysis examines the different approaches states are taking to manage the limited initial supply of COVID-19 vaccines and balance the desire to vaccinate those at greatest risk first with the need to ensure a fast and effective statewide vaccination effort.
In the issue brief, KFF experts highlight the laws and regulations that are in place to ensure access to free COVID-19 vaccines for individuals regardless of their insurance status and explain how vaccine administration costs will be covered in private insurance, Medicare and Medicaid, and for the uninsured.
This post reviews the latest information on state priorities for their initial COVID-19 vaccine allocations to assess which populations will get the vaccine first.
This brief reviews information available through state websites and publicly available vaccine distribution plans to provide greater insight into how states are addressing equity through vaccine allocation and distribution strategies, outreach and communications efforts, and data collection and reporting. It provides a snapshot and examples of state efforts in these areas.
This issue brief presents current state-level data about COVID-19 cases and deaths in settings that primarily serve nonelderly people with disabilities and summarizes available research on this population’s elevated risk of severe illness and death; explains how nonelderly people with disabilities and their LTSS providers are reflected in state vaccine prioritization plans; and discusses key issues related to vaccine access for these populations.
The number of residents contracting and dying of COVID-19 in nursing homes has declined markedly following the introduction of vaccination efforts in long-term care facilities, a KFF analysis finds. Resident deaths from COVID-19 in nursing homes have decreased by two-thirds (66%) since vaccination efforts began in late December.
This analysis compares trends in new COVID-19 cases and deaths among nursing facility residents with trends in all other new COVID-19 cases and deaths excluding nursing facility residents through February 7, 2021. This analysis shows a marked divergence in new cases and deaths per week between nursing facility residents and the rest of the US population since December 2020. This drop in new deaths and cases in nursing facility residents coincides with the start of vaccine administration in LTCFs, suggesting a link between the two, although the trends could also be influenced by other factors.
This policy watch piece highlights the potential challenges surrounding COVID-19 vaccinations among Hispanic people, whose health and finances have been extremely hard hit by the pandemic. Low rates of vaccination among Hispanic people would leave them at increased risk for the virus, could further widen existing health disparities, and would leave gaps that hinder our ability to achieve overall population immunity.
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