Photo: CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images
Today’s entry: The CDC is coming up with a BS “viral load new study” as an avoidance to putting blame on the ridiculous low numbers of vaccination rates of blacks and Hispanics/Latinos not far behind.
Bottom Line: You bring up a relevant point at this stage of the pandemic in which the CDC is backtracking on mask guidance while tripling down on the need for the unvaccinated to get vaccinated. Who is and isn’t vaccinated at this stage of the pandemic? While commonly news media and politicians have focused on political narratives, the demographic differences based on ethnicity have by far been the most significant. The most recent demographic vaccination information is through July 19th.
As of that date vaccination rates in Florida based on ethnicity are like this:
- Blacks: 15% of the population, 8% of vaccinations
- Hispanics: 27% of the population, 30% of vaccinations
- Whites: 53% of the population, 58% of vaccinations
Now, the first meaningful takeaway is the narrative that vaccination hesitancy/immunization rates among Hispanics/Latinos is low, doesn’t apply to Florida. In fact, Florida’s Hispanics/Latinos have been the most likely group to immunize relative to the population. This is illustrated in Miami-Dade, Florida’s most populous county, having the 2nd highest vaccination rate of any county.
Florida’s vaccination hesitancy issues are squarely centered around hesitancy within the Black community. Florida ranks 25th in overall vaccination rates nationally. If not for the extreme hesitancy among Blacks in our state, we’d be among the leaders in vaccination rates. That’s where the effort should almost exclusively be centered if the intent is to truly address under-vaccinated populations.
Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.
Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com
Parler & Twitter: @brianmuddradio