A U.S. State Takes on Vaccine Racial Inequity

North Carolina collects racial information for nearly everyone who receives a Covid-19 shot, helping the state tailor its vaccination approach.

A state-mandated software system requires that providers record a person’s race and ethnicity in order to register someone for a vaccination, says Mandy Cohen, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. The result? North Carolina now has racial and ethnicity data for more than 98% of everyone who has received a vaccine.