Tyler Berl and Jordan Hines, Delaware HIV Consortium May 11, 2021
While more and more Delawareans receive COVID-19 vaccinations, the state is seeing a notable drop in testing for the virus – a trend throughout the U.S. Public health experts say that, considered together, this is a positive development wrapped in a potentially worrisome one.
Just as concerning, healthcare disparities persist in Delaware in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines; as an example, Blacks make up 23 percent of Delaware’s population, yet account for just 12 percent of fully vaccinated Delawareans as of May 6.
The effectiveness of testing as a strategy for slowing the spread of communicable diseases is a lesson Delaware learned during an earlier epidemic – one that shares vast similarities to what we are experiencing today in our state – the human immunodeficiency virus. This is something that we at the Delaware HIV Consortium and the state’s other AIDS service organizations have dealt