经济学人下载:新冠疫苗难防美国"种族病"(2)

Unless states and cities prioritise vaccinating non-whites, they are likely to fall behind. Yet if they do, that could create a backlash and result in legal challenges. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, such strategies would need to use “racially neutral vaccine allocation criteria” that could “lawfully prioritise populations based on factors like geography, socioeconomic status, and housing density that would favour racial minorities de facto, but not explicitly include race.” 

除非美国各州和各城市优先为非白人接种疫苗，否则非白人的疫苗接种很可能会落后。然而，如果美国各州和各城市这样做了，则可能会导致强烈抵制，并引发法律挑战。根据《美国医学会杂志》，需要使用“种族中立的疫苗分配标准”来制定疫苗接种策略，即“根据地理环境、社会经济地位和住房密度等实质上有利于少数族裔（但不明确包括种族）的因素，来合法地优先考虑接种人群。”

This is problematic, because nonwhites are also more hesitant about getting the vaccine anyway. According to the Association for a Better New York, a non-profit, white New Yorkers are more eager to get the vaccine as soon as possible—78%, compared with 39% of black residents and 54% of Hispanic and Asian residents. This mistrust need not necessarily be a big obstacle, though. According to the same survey, people’s interest in getting vaccinated grows sharply once some people they know have been vaccinated. For Asians the propensity to get the jab increases by 26 percentage points, for Hispanics by 29 points and for African-Americans by 34 points. 

这是有问题的，因为非白人对于是否接种疫苗也更加迟疑。根据非盈利组织纽约改善协会的调查显示，纽约白人中更渴望尽快接种疫苗的比例为78%，而黑人居民为39%，西班牙裔和亚裔居民为54%。不过，这种怀疑态度不一定是一大障碍。根据同一项调查，一旦人们有一些认识的人接种了疫苗，他们自己对接种疫苗的兴趣就会急剧增长。亚洲人接受注射的倾向性增加了26%，西班牙人增加了29%，非裔美国人增加了34%。

“It is important to first reach those who want the vaccine, and educate others in the meantime,” says Dr Leana Wen of George Washington University. Christopher Marte, a community organiser in the Lower East Side in New York City, recommends a grassroots door-to-door approach. To reach the elderly black, Hispanic and Asian residents in his community, Mr Marte has joined local organisations, such as food banks and pensioners’ centres, to walk the hallways, slide flyers under doors and call landlines. Trust has built over time. People “started to know people who went to the local testing sites and had a good experience,” Mr Marte says. 

乔治华盛顿大学的温丽娜博士说：“有必要先去接触那些想要注射疫苗的人，与此同时再教育其他人。”纽约下东区的社区组织者克里斯托弗·马特建议采取基层挨家挨户劝说的方式。为了接触社区中的黑人、西班牙裔和亚裔老年居民，马特加入了当地的食品银行和退休人员中心等组织，刷楼、在门下塞传单、拨打固定电话。信任是随着时间推移而建立的。马特表示，人们“开始认识那些去过当地检测点并有良好体验的人”。