Find Resources

This review of state data collection and reporting practices during the COVID-19 pandemic found inconsistencies and gaps in data collected by race and ethnicity. Improved standardization across the U.S.–which may come in the form of a federally-operated centralized database–would address some of the concerns in data representation of all Americans.

The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene partnered with 45 businesses or faith-based organizations in the Northeast Bronx to increase COVID-19 and flu vaccine knowledge and uptake in predominantly Black and Hispanic areas. The program disseminated health information through trusted community leaders to address vaccine hesitancy. ZIP codes with higher involvement in the program showed greater increases in vaccination rates.

This brief lists interventions to support state public health efforts to address rural disparities and racial discrimination. It emphasizes the importance of localized data on social determinants of health and improving systemic and structural underpinnings of racial disparities. Suggested interventions address data collection and workforce issues, including representativeness and paid family leave.

This article describes the rapid statewide COVID-19 vaccination strategy implemented by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. The strategy focused on equitable distribution and reaching hard to reach populations, including racial and ethnic minority groups and rural communities.

Practice involves using “get out the vote” (GOTV) outreach strategies, conventionally used in political campaigns, along with mobile pop-up vaccine clinics, to encourage vaccination among marginalized communities.

This article details the Project HAPPY (HIV/AIDS Prevention Project for Youth) and how it engaged Black/African-American youth through research and implementation of the project. Youth were a part of expert panel that reviewed proposed HIV/AIDS curricula. and did outreach to get youth enrolled in the program. They recruited 431 teens and enrolled 57%, with 72% of enrolled youth attending all sessions.

This study compares data from the NYC coronavirus data repository with 2018 American Community Survey 5-year census estimates to examine the distribution of testing sites across New York City by race in May 2020. During this time, the results found that testing sites for primarily Black and Latinx communities increased, but primarily White areas still had the highest number of testing sites. The study team created ZIP-code level maps showing testing site distribution using ArcGIS as a part of this study.

This article conducts a retrospective case-control study of electronic health records of individuals who were diagnosed with COVID-19 and have a recent diagnosis of substance use disorder (SUD). The results show that those diagnosed with SUD, particularly African Americans and those with opioid use disorder (OUD), are more likely to contract COVID-19, as well as suffer worsening outcomes such as hospitalization and mortality due to COVID-19. This article shows that an increase in SUD screening could be a factor in mitigating the spread of COVID-19 in this community.

This study looked at vaccine hesitancy among a survey sample of 1,200 Black and White participants from December to June 2021. In the initial months of the study, vaccine hesitancy was comparable among Black and White participants, but Black participants became more willing to be vaccinated for protection by March 2021, whereas the White participant baseline for vaccine acceptance remained the same.

This study sought to assess the correlation between population and spatial characteristics of COVID-19 by examining positive COVID-19 data from New York City with ZIP Code Tabulation Areas to determine what social determinants of health increase an individual’s risk of contracting COVID-19. Results showed that neighborhoods with larger proportions of Black people, people older than 65, people with heart disease, and people living in densely populated housing are at higher risk of contracting COVID-19.