White women over age 50 were responsible for the majority of the first Covid-19 vaccinations administered in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Monday.
While most health workers and those living in long-term care facilities are women – the groups originally recommended to be first in line to get the vaccination – the report highlights the racial and ethnic disparities among those who most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak
People most at risk for infection and the most dangerous outcomes are blacks, Native Americans or Alaskan natives and Hispanics.
Of the nearly 13 million people who received at least the first dose of vaccine between mid-December and mid-January, 63 percent were women and 55 percent were over the age of 50, the CDC report.
Shortage of data
Race information was only available to about half of those vaccination recipients. 60 percent of them were white. It is unclear why the information is missing, but it is likely due to a lack of a demographic protocol.
“The people who give the vaccine do not record race and ethnicity data,” said Dr. Marcus Plescia of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. “People need to realize this is serious. We may need a mandatory field to make sure it is completed.”
Indeed, the authors of the report wrote: “A more complete reporting of race and ethnicity data at the provider and jurisdiction level is critical to ensure rapid detection and response to potential differences in vaccination with Covid-19. guarantee.”
Addressing these inequalities has become an “urgent priority” in the Biden administration.
“Achieving equality requires understanding the differences that exist,” said Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, chair of the administration’s Covid-19 Health Equity Task Force, at a White House briefing on Monday.
“As of January 30, we are missing 47 percent of race-ethnicity data on vaccination,” she said. “Let me be clear, we cannot guarantee a fair vaccination program without data to guide us.”
Part of the problem is the lack of access and resources.
“Some of these communities about which we are most concerned about hospitalization and death also have less access to high-speed Internet” to make online vaccination appointments, said Dr. Julie Morita, executive vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Morita, who also served as a former health commissioner with the Chicago Department of Public Health, added that those communities may also be limited in transportation options needed to get to vaccination sites.
“It really helps them access it and make sure those clinics are in the right places,” she said. Without the right data to determine whether the right populations are being reached, “you are really guessing.”
Nursing home staff skip shots
A second report from the CDC released Monday found wide differences in vaccination efforts between those living in long-term care facilities and those caring for residents.
Of the 11,460 skilled nursing facilities with at least one vaccination clinic between mid-December and mid-January, about 78 percent of residents received the shot, compared to just under 38 percent of staff.
“The lower percentage of staff vaccinated raises concerns about low coverage in a population at high risk of occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2,” the study authors wrote, referring to the virus that causes Covid-19.
The hesitation in this group is not a new phenomenon, the CDC reported. During the 2017-2018 flu season, vaccination coverage among staff in long-term care facilities was lower than those in health care.
More recently, an October 2020 survey found that 37 percent of nurses were unsure that a Covid-19 vaccine would be safe and effective. The unprecedented speed at which these vaccines were developed, studied and rolled out appears to be the crux of the hesitation in this group.
Dr. Robert Atmar, an infectious diseases physician and professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, pointed out that in the CDC report, it is possible that long-term care personnel may have received the vaccination elsewhere and therefore not in this specific report.
Still, he said, for many of us in the health care system there is the frustration that those who work within the system lack confidence in the health care we provide.
Download the NBC News app for full coverage of the coronavirus outbreakk
The Food and Drug Administration has approved two Covid-19 vaccines for emergency use. One, from Pfizer-BioNTech, was authorized on December 11, and the other, by Moderna, was approved a week later, on December 18.
A third vaccine manufacturer, Johnson & Johnson, is expected to file an application for emergency use this week.
Follow NBC HEALTH on Twitter & Facebook.
Laura Strickler contributed.