Anthony Fauci, the United States' top infectious disease expert, highlighted how COVID-19 disproportionately sickens people of color, and said they must be strongly represented in the race to find a vaccine.
Fauci, who heads the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in an interview at the Bloomberg Equality Summit that people of color often hold essential jobs that don’t allow them to work from home. At the same time, they have higher prevalence of conditions including diabetes, hypertension and obesity.
It’s a toxic combination that’s translated into higher COVID-19 hospitalization rates than the population at large, according to Fauci.