Long Covid May Become a Crisis for Black Americans, Experts Say

The authors write that black Americans were overrepresented in essential worker positions, increasing the virus’s risk. And they were also more likely than white Americans to live in multi-generational homes or crowded places, go to jail or live in densely populated areas.
The report says that many black Americans who contracted the coronavirus experienced severe illness due to pre-existing conditions such as obesity, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease, which were often the result of “varied access to high-quality care and resources that promote health and wellness.” health.”
Many experts saw the approval of the first coronavirus vaccines as a light at the end of the tunnel. Still, new discrepancies have emerged, fueled by vaccine hesitancy and limited access to vaccines.
While the vaccination gap has narrowed since then — as of January, 80 percent of black Americans were fully vaccinated compared to 83 percent of white Americans; the report says — the gaps remain.
“We recognize that there is still unfinished work to save and protect our communities from the Covid-19 pandemic,” wrote Dr. Reed Tucson, who co-founded the Black Coalition Against Covid in April 2020.
And when it comes to working in progress, long Covid comes first.
“Even a long-term Covid diagnosis has a lot to do with a positive test at the very beginning,” Dr. Nunes-Smith said, adding that many black Americans “failed to get tested, and in some cases were denied testing.”
She stressed the importance of investing adequate resources in studying the protracted Covid. “Like everything else, we won’t get justice without premeditation,” she said.