HELP US GET EVERY COMMUNITY #VACCINEREADY
Life expectancy and health outcomes shouldn’t depend on a person’s zip code or skin color. Yet in the United States today, minorities experience inequity as it relates to their health—a reality that has been particularly apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is estimated that the quality of a person’s health care and their own genetics are responsible for just around 30% of their overall health outcomes. The majority of health is actually impacted by what’s known as “social and environmental determinants of health.” This includes things like housing, food insecurity, education, income, air quality, pollution, access to transportation and more.
These social and environmental determinants of health are a significant reason why Black people are 60% more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes, 50% more likely to have a stroke and 40% more likely to have high blood pressure. They also play a role in the fact that minorities are more likely to be infected with COVID-19, and Black Americans are nearly 2.5 times as likely to die from COVID-19 as white Americans. At the same time, the rate of COVID-19 vaccinations for minorities lags far behind the rate for whites.
To help increase awareness of these health disparities, April is National Minority Health Month, and this year’s theme is #VaccineReady.
Rather than simply marking this month and moving along to another focus in May, MJ wants to use April to promote vaccine distribution and motivate even more change moving forward. To accomplish this, we will continue to focus on our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts, which includes supporting healthy habits for our own internal team, as well as our client’s employees through our employee benefits programs and Population Health + Wellness initiatives.
We’ve also compiled a list of helpful COVID-19 and vaccine resources for you to share with your family, friends, co-workers and neighborhood groups. Together we can get our entire community #VaccineReady!
Indiana:
Vaccine registration + eligibility
