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North Carolina 'success' at COVID-19 vaccine equity among blacks & whites

Our state is in the top four states for coronavirus vaccine equity. And our efforts are gaining national attention.

GREENSBORO, N.C. — North Carolina is being launched into the national spotlight for how well we're giving out vaccines. Bloomberg just published this article saying: "one state's laser focus on data helps shrink racial vaccine gap."

The article bragged about us - saying "North Carolina is among the best-performing U.S. states when it comes to distributing vaccines evenly among Black and White residents. ... North Carolina's success is no accident. The state made equity a priority, early on."

So where exactly do we stack up compared to other states? Let's dig deeper. First, you should know we cross-checked the Bloomberg records with the state and the Kiser Family Foundation. They are all right in line.

North Carolina is 1st in the nation for actually collecting data. We know the race of 99.6 percent of people that were vaccinated. Compare that to 14 states which don't collect that information at all.

When it comes to making sure vaccines are being shared between white and black communities, we are fourth in the nation: behind Alaska, Massachusetts, and Maine. And because we're doing so well, everyone in the triad is benefiting.   The progress being made with equity is one of the reasons the federal government chose Greensboro for the FEMA vaccine clinic, which opens this week!

But there is one place where we could improve. While North Carolina is doing really well in vaccine equity between blacks and whites, the data shows North Carolina is ranked 24th for vaccine equity between whites and Hispanics.

To help tackle this, North Carolina has planned several vaccine clinics with providers that speak Spanish. They're also increasing advertising in Spanish language media.

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