New data from several states show racial disparities in monkeypox infections

New data emerging from some states and localities closely tracking monkeypox outbreaks show extreme racial disparities that are alarming experts. In Georgia, 82% of people with the disease are Black. In North Carolina, it’s 70%. But in other places that have released detailed demographic data, there are fewer and sometimes no apparent racial or ethnic disparities in monkeypox cases.

In both states, and nationally, almost all cases involve men who have sex with men.

The disparities appear to be further compounded by a lack of vaccine access for people of color. North Carolina’s data show Black men have received 22% of vaccine doses, a number that corresponds to the Black population in the state, but not to the high number of Black men who have been infected. Nationally, white men appear to be getting a far larger share of the vaccine, a factor public health experts say is harming efforts to protect vulnerable populations with less access to health care resources.