“So much of even getting a long COVID diagnosis is tied to having had a positive test right at the beginning,” said Nunez-Smith, adding that many Black Americans “weren’t able to secure a test and in some cases, were denied testing.” Reed Tuckson, who in April 2020 co-founded the Black Coalition Against COVID.Īnd when it comes to unfinished work, long COVID is top of mind. “We understand that there remains unfinished work yet to do to save and protect our communities from the COVID-19 pandemic,” wrote Dr. Though the gap in vaccinations has since narrowed - 80% of Black Americans were fully vaccinated as of January, compared with 83% of white Americans, the report says - disparities persist.

The authorization of the first coronavirus vaccines was seen by many as a light at the end of the tunnel, but new disparities emerged, driven by both vaccine hesitancy and a lack of access to the shots. Many Black Americans who contracted the coronavirus experienced serious illness because of preexisting conditions, such as obesity, hypertension and chronic kidney disease, which themselves were the result of “differential access to high-quality care and health promoting resources,” the report says.

And they were also more likely than white Americans to live in multigenerational homes or crowded spaces, be incarcerated, or live in densely populated areas. “The severity of COVID-19 among Black Americans was the predictable result of structural and societal realities, not differences in genetic predisposition,” the report says.īlack Americans were overrepresented in essential worker positions, which increased the risk of exposure to the virus, the authors write.

Diagnosis from the new york times