April 26th, 2021 by WCBC Radio

The work of the Maryland Vaccine Equity Task Force, which has now completed more than 200 missions, is being highlighted in a new piece published by New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst:

Vaccine Equity Index Shows Reduction in Maryland Covid-19 Vaccination Disparity in Less Than Two Months
By Andrew Maul, MD, MBA, Kavitha Reddy, MHSA & Maulik Joshi, DrPH
April 23, 2021
NEJM Catalyst

In Maryland, the states Vaccine Equity Task Force (VETF), health systems, local health departments, and others have focused on improving Covid-19 vaccination access and uptake among Black and Hispanic/Latino residents.

Specifically, the Maryland VETF has worked diligently to reach the states vulnerable communities by partnering with trusted community, faith-based, and nonprofit organizations.

The success of these initiatives can be highlighted by the Vaccine Equity Index (VEI), which is the percentage of a racial/ethnic group that has received at least a first dose divided by the percentage of that racial/ethnic group in the total population.

Over a 7-week period, among Maryland residents age 65 or older, increased vaccine access and equity-focused efforts helped boost the VEI of Black residents to 0.86 from 0.58, a 48% increase, and of Hispanic/Latino residents to 0.80 from 0.59, a 36% increase.