skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Experts Hopeful about Closing Racial Gaps for COVID Shots

play audio
Play

Wednesday, March 17, 2021   

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Despite higher COVID illness and death totals, certain minority groups in Minnesota are getting fewer vaccinations. However, there are signs the racial gaps could soon grow smaller.

Black Minnesotans are among the groups seeing lagging numbers of COVID vaccinations, according to state health officials. For those age 15 and older who have received the vaccine, just 3.5% are Black residents while 90% are Caucasian.

Craig Helmstetter, managing partner of APM Research Lab, said it mirrors what's happening nationally, and one key underlying factor is that inoculation efforts have focused on older people.

"And by and large, the white population is older than most populations of color across the country," he said, "and so, from that standpoint, it's not surprising that we see vaccination rates higher among white populations."

As more age groups become eligible, he said, more people of color are likely to receive COVID shots. However, Helmstetter and other experts have said policymakers could have done a better job prioritizing minority groups when vaccination efforts began. He noted that coronavirus variants still are a concern. State health officials say they're doing targeted outreach with community groups and mobile vaccination clinics.

Also in Minnesota, the COVID death rate for Asian-Americans is relatively high compared with other states. Helmstetter said this group is being vaccinated at lower rates, which also bucks what's happening nationally.

"Although the Asian population is not the largest population in the state, it is a population that's having a lot of impacts and so far, not matching the vaccination rate of whites," he said, "and so that's an issue of concern."

However, Helmstetter cited encouraging news for Indigenous populations, which have seen higher vaccination rates. To date, more than 1.2 million Minnesotans have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccination. The health department has said racial data for inoculation efforts only has been available for a short time, but it now can put the state on a better path toward equity in this area.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021