Racial Equity and Health Policy Program

This brief reviews information available through state websites and publicly available vaccine distribution plans to provide greater insight into how states are addressing equity through vaccine allocation and distribution strategies, outreach and communications efforts, and data collection and reporting. It provides a snapshot and examples of state efforts in these areas.

This policy watch piece highlights the potential challenges surrounding COVID-19 vaccinations among Hispanic people, whose health and finances have been extremely hard hit by the pandemic. Low rates of vaccination among Hispanic people would leave them at increased risk for the virus, could further widen existing health disparities, and would leave gaps that hinder our ability to achieve overall population immunity.

This brief reviews why racial diversity within COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials is important, discusses the barriers to participation in clinical trials among people of color, and examines the racial/ethnic composition of clinical trial participants for the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.

Across states, data to understand access to and uptake of the vaccine by race/ethnicity and other demographic factors will be central to efforts to ensure equity. KFF is compiling and will regularly update state-reported data on vaccination by race/ethnicity through its COVID-19 state data and policy tracker.

This analysis provides an overview of demographic characteristics and health insurance coverage of health care workers with direct patient contact, including those working in hospital and long-term care settings.

This brief provides an overview of key issues to consider for reaching noncitizen immigrants as part of COVID-19 vaccination efforts.

This brief outlines the potential health policy actions that President Biden could take using executive authority, based on campaign pledges, and actions that would reverse or modify regulations or guidance issued by the Trump Administration.

This brief provides an overview of barriers to vaccination that disproportionately affect people of color and discusses how current national recommendations and state vaccine allocation plans address racial equity.

This analysis provides insight into COVID-19 risks and impacts among health care workers and how they vary by race and ethnicity.

This brief provides a summary of Medicaid’s role for pregnant women and infants and current Medicaid initiatives to improve maternal and infant health.