![are black people the missing link are black people the missing link](https://atlantablackstar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/WLLLIAM-LANEY-600x800.jpg)
But state data requested by POLITICO show that of the 452 cases for which demographic information does exist, more than 42 percent are among Black people. In Texas, state health officials do not share race and ethnicity data publicly because the data is missing for more than half of monkeypox patients, an agency spokesperson said. In New York City - home to a fifth of the country’s monkeypox patients - two-thirds of those infected are Black or Latino, though Black and Latino people make up a little more than half of the city’s population. In San Francisco, 30 percent of cases are among Latinos, twice the share of the city’s population. In North Carolina, Black patients make up about 70 percent of cases, though they’re about a fifth of the state’s population. In Georgia, about 82 percent of monkeypox patients are Black, though Black residents make up about a third of the state’s population. In some states and cities, disparities are even greater than the national trend. And only a handful of states, including California, New York and New Jersey, routinely report those breakdowns for monkeypox cases. monkeypox cases, the CDC only has race and ethnicity data for about 6,000, Walensky said. People protest during a rally calling for more government action to combat the spread of monkeypox at Foley Square on Jin New York City.īut the early CDC data on disparities may understate the problem. “We continue to do the work and go deeper and deeper into engagement.” “We know working really closely with organizations and trusted messengers for the populations has been really critical,” Demetre Daskalakis, deputy coordinator for the White House monkeypox response, said during a briefing. Walensky said states’ requests for doses must also include information about “how they will address health equity in delivery of both messaging as well as vaccine.” The administration announced on Thursday a pilot program that will make up to 50,000 monkeypox vaccine doses available from the Strategic National Stockpile to states and localities to distribute at LGBTQ events to better reach at-risk communities, including Black and Latino individuals. On Wednesday, Walensky said she was changing the agency’s broader communications strategy, aiming for greater transparency and simpler language when speaking to the public. Then we wait, and say, ‘Look at all this disparity again.’”įederal health officials said they are determined to eliminate the disparities. It’s so important to find trusted messengers, but we continue to do broad-based messaging. “We had a chance to do better,” said Matthew Rose, a longtime health equity and HIV advocate.