Fewer black hospital workers accept the Covid-19 vaccine than other groups, Cuomo says

Syracuse, NY – According to breakdowns released today by Governor Andrew Cuomo, fewer African-Americans working in hospitals are accepting the Covid-19 vaccine compared to other races and ethnicities.

Blacks represent 17% of all hospital workers in the state, he said. And all hospital workers have received the coronavirus vaccine so far, the governor said.

Still, only 10% of vaccinated hospital workers are black, he said.

“I think it’s the clearest demonstration of hesitation,” he said, “which I understand, but it’s something you have to overcome.”

Cuomo says he believes the analysis of hospital workers – the first racial breakdowns among vaccine recipients the state has released – gives some idea of ​​how likely others are to receive the vaccination. These workers, he said, didn’t have to worry about making an appointment or calling a hotline.

“These are people who are at work, got the vaccine and said no,” he said.

Yet that analysis does not take into account access to the vaccine. Now most vaccine appointments can be accessed through online forms. Those without internet service or computer skills find it more difficult to get appointments.

The accessibility of those arrangements could also affect who received the vaccine when looking at others who are now eligible, such as seniors, firefighters, or shop staff.

Still, hospital outages are supported by recent polls. A poll by Siena College in mid-January found that about 1 in 4 New Yorkers said they had no intention of getting the vaccine.

Of the whites, 72% said they would get the vaccine, while 24% said they wouldn’t. Of blacks, only 58% said they would, while 36% said they had no intention of getting vaccinated, the poll found.

To counter those views, Cuomo said, the state is also launching an ad campaign to encourage vaccinations, especially among African Americans.

That’s because the governor has worked with the NAACP, the Urban League, and local ministers across the state to encourage people of color to accept the vaccine.

Latinos, Hispanic and Asian hospital workers are more accepting of the vaccine, the data shows.

According to data released today by Cuomo, there are nearly twice as many black hospital workers in New York as Latino or Hispanic workers. Still, Latinos make up about 10% of hospital workers who received the vaccine – the same proportion as blacks.

Asians also accepted the vaccine earlier, hospital data shows.

Here are the hospital employee breakdowns:

• Whites are 70% of hospital workers and make up 63% of those who have used the vaccine
• African Americans make up 17% of hospital workers and make up 10% of those who have used the vaccine
• Latinos and Hispanics make up 8% of hospital workers and make up 10% of those who have used the vaccine
• Asians are 11% of hospital workers and make up 16% of those who have used the vaccine

About 12% of hospital workers declined to disclose their race or ethnicity, Cuomo said.

Cuomo said the state will release more demographics later this week on who is being vaccinated. About 1.7 million people in New York have received at least one dose of vaccine.

Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said last week that the county would also release vaccine outages in the coming days.

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