Governor Hawkul accused of racism
The New York State Health Department’s recommendation for the use of monoclonal antibodies and COVID-19 pills, released on December 27, sparked a major scandal and racist allegations.
The recommendation, signed by Governor Katie Hawkul, states that health care providers should consider the race and ethnicity of the coronavirus patient when deciding on treatment. And while the “cheat sheet” lists several risk factors that doctors should look out for, the poorly worded document caused the expected outrage. For example, the text argues that since the supply of monoclonal antibodies and oral antiviral drugs is limited, “African or Latino ethnicity should be considered a risk factor because long-standing systemic social inequalities that impede equal access to health care contribute to an increased risk of serious illness and mortality from COVID-19 “.
In addition to race, other criteria for assessing risk – and therefore the chances of receiving early treatment for COVID-19 – are age, weight, comorbidities, vaccination status, and disease symptoms. In other words, if a white and an African American come to the doctor with the same symptoms and risk factors, then the latter should be preferred. Thus, members of other races have a significant advantage over whites, as they automatically qualify for early treatment.
There is indeed some truth in the recommendation – African and Latino Americans have higher rates of serious illness and death from coronavirus than whites. However, if the authorities wanted to draw the attention of doctors to this already known fact, they should have used a different formulation, without drawing politicians “by the ears” to medicine. Despite the holiday break, attentive social media users reacted instantly: “This recommendation is directed against whites, and you are just instigators. I hope New Yorkers will sue, “wrote one Twitter user. Another reacted, “@GovKathyHochul is racist in front of everyone. How do blacks or Hispanics feel that their race is a risk factor? “
The state health department emphasizes that vaccination is still the most effective way to prevent severe disease. And it certainly cannot be said that vaccinations are not available for representatives of a particular ethnic group. However, according to official data as of January 3, 67.9% of white residents of the state have already received two vaccinations, among other groups, the number of vaccinated is much less: 21.5% of Hispanics, 15.7% of African Americans and 14.6% of Asians have been injected twice.
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