Alaska Natives triple the Covid deaths of whites by carlos matÍAS
Covid is evidence of racial and ethnic inequalities in USA. The National Cancer Institute, first, and the Alaska CDC, later, show that the pandemic is more lethal for black, American Indian, and Alaska Native, as well as Hispanic or Latino populations, than for white Americans or those of Asian origin. In Alaska, Alaska Natives make up one-fifth of the state’s total population but die at three times the rate of whites.
Covid is proving far more deadly for blacks, American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Hispanics than for white Americans and those of Asian origin, according to a National Cancer Institute (NCI) study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine on Oct. 5 last year.
Sol de Medianoche now publishes another, much more recent report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC. It says that Native Alaskans and American Indians in the state, who make up one-fifth of the total population, die at three times the rate of deaths in the white U.S. population. This second report was released on Thursday, June 2.
The death rate in the Alaska Native population is even higher than that of the black population in other countries on the continent. In Brazil, for example, black deaths are twice as high as white deaths, compared to three times as high for Alaska Natives than whites. The isolation of remote indigenous peoples and their lack of access to health care determine this disproportion, which accounts for 20% of the inhabitants and 200% of the deaths: 297 indigenous deaths per 100,000 natives, compared with 104 white deaths per 100,000 whites.
As for hospitalizations, the statistics are no better: 742 out of every 100,000 natives have been hospitalized, compared to 273 hospitalized for every 100,000 whites. In other words, Alaska Natives are three times more likely to get sick than white Alaskans.
The CDC notes that there are “systemic” social and health inequities that cause racial and ethnic minority groups to be at greater risk of illness and even death from the coronavirus. This is despite the fact that Alaska Native communities have achieved higher vaccination rates.
