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Originally published on December 17, 2020 10:33 pm
When Virginia Hedrick first heard about the coronavirus circulating on cruise ships off the coast of California back in March, it made her think back to some of the first ships of European settlers that arrived on American shores centuries ago, also teeming with disease.
Various outbreaks and epidemics spread across the continent in the following centuries, particularly measles and smallpox, and Indigenous people suffered hugely disproportionate rates of illness and death. So some would say that it was an unintentional spread of infectious disease upon contact. Others would say it was absolutely intentional, says Hedrick, a member of the Yurok tribe who grew up on a reservation in Humboldt County. Now, during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, American Indians are four times more likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19 than white people, and more than twice as likely to die. For all these reasons, pa
Sam Wasson / Getty Images
Originally published on December 16, 2020 10:00 pm
When Virginia Hedrick first heard about the coronavirus circulating on cruise ships off the coast of California back in March, it made her think back to some of the first ships of European settlers that arrived on American shores centuries ago, also teeming with disease.
Various outbreaks and epidemics spread across the continent in the following centuries, particularly measles and smallpox, and Indigenous people suffered hugely disproportionate rates of illness and death. So some would say that it was an unintentional spread of infectious disease upon contact. Others would say it was absolutely intentional, says Hedrick, a member of the Yurok tribe who grew up on a reservation in Humboldt County. Now, during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, American Indians are four times more likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19 than white people, and more than twice as likely to die. For all these reasons, pa
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An American flag with an image of a Native American on it in To Hajiilee Indian Reservation in New Mexico. In California, a vaccine allocation committee is considering taking historical injustice into account in advance of a statewide rollout. Sam Wasson/Getty Images
When Virginia Hedrick first heard about the coronavirus circulating on cruise ships off the coast of California back in March, it made her think back to some of the first ships of European settlers that arrived on American shores centuries ago, also teeming with disease.
Various outbreaks and epidemics spread across the continent in the following centuries, particularly measles and smallpox, and Indigenous people suffered hugely disproportionate rates of illness and death.
California to consider historical injustice in setting vaccine distribution order Print this article
California may include “historical injustice” as a factor in determining the distribution of coronavirus vaccines, a sign of social justice considerations entering the public health effort.
The idea was first introduced to California’s Community Vaccine Advisory Committee on Nov. 25 by Virginia Hedrick, according to NPR.
Hedrick is executive director of the California Consortium for Urban Indian Health. A member of the Yurok Tribe, she pointed out that Native Americans are 4 times more likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19 and twice as likely to die from it than white people.