Staff Contact: Mat Reidhead, Jackie Gatz, Meghan Henderson or Stephen Njenga
By Jan. 24, more than 357,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered in Missouri. The recipients include 237,688 individual Missourians, including just more than 70,000 state residents who have received both doses. While the scale and pace — an average of 8,506 daily doses since Dec. 14, 2020 — continues to increase, 357,000 doses is less than 4% of the total number of doses needed to inoculate 70% of the population, a very approximate benchmark for establishing herd immunity in Missouri. Additionally, numerous factors beyond state control continue to impose severe limitations on the proliferation of vaccines; however, Missouri currently is pulling up the rear amid a pack of equally supply-constrained states.
Missouri is one of just 16 states with a vaccine administrative data system that captures information on recipients’ race and ethnicity. These data place the state at a significant advantage in tracking progress toward uptake among vaccine-hesitant populations. For example, Black and African American Missourians make up 11% of the adult population, but ShowMeVax data on reported race indicate they have received just 4% of total vaccines administered thus far. This raises serious questions on vaccine acceptance and trust-building in Black and Brown communities that have been the historical recipients of devastating medical mistreatment, including the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, and also highlights the critical need to ensure adequate distribution to vulnerable citizens.
The problem is that 18.4% of vaccine administration records indicate unknown or missing race, while another 17% indicate other race categories aside from Black, white or Asian individuals. According to the Census, just 3.5% of adults in Missouri belong to other race groups. In other words, the actual race of one in three vaccine recipients in Missouri to date is unknown, nullifying the advantage of having the ability to monitor uptake among vaccine-hesitant populations. Vaccinators accurately identifying and reporting recipient race and ethnicity is vital to the success of the mass vaccination campaign in Missouri. For additional information on evidence-based practices in capturing Race, Ethnicity and Language (REaL) data, contact Stephen Njenga, MHA Director of Performance Measurement Compliance.