The rollout of vaccines in New York City — once the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic — has been plagued by stark racial disparities, with Black and Latino residents receiving far fewer doses than white residents, Mayor Bill de Blasio has said.
The city’s demographic data was incomplete, but the information available revealed for the first time that white New Yorkers are navigating the city’s complicated vaccination system more easily. Of nearly 300,000 city residents who received one dose and whose race was recorded, about 48% were white, 15% were Latino, 15% were Asian and 11% were Black.
Latino and Black residents were underrepresented: The city’s population is roughly 29% Latino and 24% Black.