U.S. media says monkeypox vaccine supply is unfair, only 17% of African Americans in Michigan get vaccine
Overseas Network, September 30. According to the US "Detroit Free Press" reported on September 29, the latest data from Michigan shows that 60% of monkeypox patients in the state are African-American, but only 17% of African-Americans have received the vaccine. There is inequity in vaccines locally.
Although most monkeypox patients in Michigan are African-American, the vaccine is disproportionately going to whites.
Of the more than 8,000 doses of the monkeypox vaccine the state has, 70% have been allocated to whites, while African Americans have received only 17%, according to data released by the Michigan Department of Health.
Heisler, medical director of the Detroit Public Health Sexually Transmitted Diseases Clinic, said the Covid-19 pandemic has taken a toll on an underfunded public health system, and inequities are growing as the U.S. faces pressure from a severe monkeypox outbreak.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services spokesman Woods said the health department is working to address disparities in people's access to vaccines and treatments.
She also said that these disparities are not unique to Michigan, and that similar situations have occurred across the country.
(Zhang Ni from Overseas Network)