Kansas and West Virginia either didn’t respond or couldn't be reached for comment on their plans for distributing vaccines.
This would be the first time the SVI is used on such a broad scale. Created in 2011 by the CDC, its main purpose has been to help coordinate delivering aid in the case of major natural catastrophes such as hurricanes or floods. The difference is those events tend to affect just one state or region of the country.
The index uses 15 measures, including household composition, disability, minority status, housing type, English fluency, minority-group identification and employment status.
“People are starting to understand the connection between equity and the SVI,” said Ruqaiijah Yearby, a professor at Saint Louis University School of Law who has focused on equity in health care. “But I hope it will go beyond the vaccine and be connected to our overall response.”
--With assistance from Stephen Joyce, Shruti Singh, Tripp Baltz, Vincent Del Giudice and Christopher Brown.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.