Idaho finally releases ethnicity data for COVID-19 vaccines. Latinos are less than 5%
The state’s first release of race and ethnicity information for Idaho COVID-19 vaccinations appears to show that only a small percentage of Latinos have been vaccinated so far.
However, the state still doesn’t know the ethnicity of half of the people who received the vaccine and doesn’t know the race for one-third, making it difficult to draw definitive conclusions.
Of the 124,571 cases where a person’s ethnicity was recorded, just 4.6% or 5,774 of the people receiving vaccines were Hispanic. There was no ethnicity information available for 124,492 other people who had been vaccinated.
The transparency data is the first race and ethnicity breakdown of vaccinated Idahoans since vaccinations began nearly three months ago. Many states across the country are using demographic information like race and ethnicity to track whether the vaccine is being distributed equitably, especially among Latino communities that were disproportionately affected by COVID-19 in Idaho and across the country.
In February, state health officials said that under state law, Idaho’s Immunization Reminder Information System (IRIS) registry does not include more than basic details, such as a person’s name, date of birth and vaccination record. Idaho Reports and the Idaho Statesman were unable to find a state law or administrative rule that bars demographic information from being entered into IRIS. Later, state officials walked back those claims, and announced in the second week of February that the data was being collected.
The state data released Tuesday also did not have race information of 94,697 people — roughly 38% — who had received vaccines as of March 1. Of the 154,366 vaccinations with that information, 0.72% were American Indian or Alaska Native, 0.97% were Asian, 0.33% were Black, 0.17% were Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and 19.2% marked “other” for race. A 2015 study by the Pew Research Center found that some Latinos and multiracial Hispanics mark “other” as a race. The U.S. Census Bureau also considers people of Middle Eastern or North African descent ‘white,’ prompting many from the region to identify as some other race.
Patients aren’t required to share race or ethnicity information with providers, Health and Welfare Director Dave Jeppeson told Boise State Public Radio on Tuesday.
“However, an enrolled provider, if that information is shared, is required to share it with us here at the state,” Jeppeson said. “We’ll share what data we have, but you’ll notice when the it gets published, there is quite a bit of data missing, and that’s not because people forgot to report it, but is dependent on individual patients agreeing to share that information.”
There are also still significant percentages of missing demographic data for COVID-19 infections. The state knew the ethnicity of 53% of COVID-19 cases as of March 1. Of those 90,364 cases, about 19% were Hispanic or Latino people. Just 13% of Idahoans are Hispanic or Latino.
This story was originally published March 2, 2021 at 10:47 AM.
