Black, Latino Henrico residents experience disproportionate effects from COVID-19

Black and Latino residents of Henrico County have suffered disproportionately negative effects from COVID-19 when compared with their white counterparts, according to data released Wednesday by the Virginia Department of Health.

The VDH’s new health equity dashboard shows that since the pandemic began, Latino residents of the county developed COVID cases at twice the rate white residents did and were hospitalized at 1.5 times the rate of whites. Black residents developed cases at 1.5 times the rate of whites and were hospitalized at nearly twice the rate of whites.

Conversely, Asian or Pacific Islanders largely have fared better than others, developing cases of COVID less frequently than whites (0.7 times as often) and being hospitalized less than half as often as whites. They’ve also been vaccinated 1.2 times as often as whites, according to the data.

It’s been an encouraging trend in recent months for Henrico’s Latino population, however, which since June has seen its case and hospitalization rates drop more quickly than those of the other groups, while its vaccination rate has grown more quickly. Latino residents were vaccinated less often than whites in June but now are vaccinated at a rate slightly above that of whites (1.1 times as often).

Black residents of the county are the group least likely to be vaccinated (0.8 times as often as whites), according to the data.

The health equity dashboard uses the state’s white population – its largest racial group – as its reference population and compares case, hospitalization, death and vaccination rates of the other racial and ethnic groups to it.

A total of 728 Henrico residents have died from COVID-19, and Black residents of the county have the highest death rate of any racial group (about 281 per 100,000), while those of Asian/Pacific Islander backgrounds have the lowest such rate (56 per 100,000). The COVID death rate for whites in Henrico is about 250 per 100,000, while for Latinos it's about 109 per 100,000.

Statewide, hospitalizations of Black and Latino Virginians occurred at approximately twice the rate of White Virginians. Asian and Pacific Islanders and Latinos have been vaccinated at a higher rate than Whites in Virginia, while Black Virginians lag slightly. Statewide, rate ratios in cases, hospitalizations, and deaths for these groups have tended to decline, while rate ratios for vaccinations have tended to increase, indicating an improving situation in both areas.

Whites comprise just less than half of the county’s population, while Blacks represent nearly 29%, Asians 9.6% and Latinos about 6.6%, according to the 2020 U.S. Census.

Virginians who have not been fully vaccinated or who are eligible for booster doses can visit vaccinate.virginia.gov or call 1-877-VAX-IN-VA (877) 829-4682 to find nearby vaccination clinics.