African Americans make up 29% of the population in Duval County, but just 14% of vaccinations, according to the latest numbers from the state’s Department of Health (DOH).
That’s an improvement from two weeks ago, when African Americans made up 11% of vaccine recipients.
The new data from the DOH shows that about 101,000 people in Duval County have received at least one of their vaccine doses so far, up from 75,000 in late January.
Of the 101,566 people vaccinated in the county, roughly 56% were white, 14% were Black, and less than 1% were American Indian or Alaskan. Those numbers are approximate, because 13% and 15% of those vaccinated were identified as “Other” or “Unknown,” respectively.
The data release comes as public health experts have identified for the first time in Duval County a variant of the novel coronavirus that first appeared in the United Kingdom. Dubbed B.1.1.7, the variant is believed to be more easily transmitted than the original strain, and may be somewhat more deadly.
Contact Sydney Boles at sboles@wjct.org, or on Twitter at @sydneyboles.
