--- title: "Measuring and Promoting SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Equity | Sutter Health" description: "Minoritized and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups have borne a disproportionate burden of severe illness, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19." url: "https://www.sutterhealth.org/research/publications/measuring-promoting-sars-cov-2-vaccine-equity-1055312863" --- 1. [Home](https://www.sutterhealth.org/) / 2. [Research](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research) / 3. [Research publications](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research/publications) / 4. Measuring and Promoting SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Equity # Measuring and promoting SARS-CoV-2 vaccine equity: development of a COVID-19 vaccine equity index Alice R Pressman, Stephen H Lockhart, Zijun Shen, & Kristen M J Azar _Health Equity.;5(1):476-483. doi: 10.1089/heq.2021.0047. eCollection 2021._ 2021-07-13 ## Abstract ****Purpose:**** The coronavirus pandemic has created the greatest public health crisis in a century, causing >500,000 deaths in the United States alone. Minoritized and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups have borne a disproportionate burden of severe illness, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19. Recently developed FDA-approved vaccines have been shown to significantly reduce severe COVID-19-related outcomes. Vaccination campaigns have the potential to advance health equity by prioritizing allocation to those at highest risk while striving for herd immunity. Large integrated health systems have been faced with the daunting task of meeting the rapidly evolving needs of diverse patient populations for the provision of population-based testing, treatment, education, and now vaccine distribution. We have designed a COVID-19 vaccine equity index (CVEI) to guide health system vaccination strategy. ****Methods:**** We considered proportion unvaccinated within a health care system. We then used real-time readily available electronic health record (EHR) COVID-19 testing positivity and proportion hospitalized to measure burden of illness by race/ethnicity. We used conditional probability and statistical theory to measure equity for unvaccinated individuals and to derive an index to highlight these inequities for specific subgroups. ****Results:**** We present an illustrative hypothetical example using simulated data for which we calculated the CVEI for non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic Asian, and Hispanic patients. In the example, non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic patients had inequitable outcomes. ****Conclusion:**** The index can be widely implemented to promote more equitable outcomes among racial/ethnic groups, reducing morbidity and mortality within the overall population as we pursue the collective goal of herd immunity through mass vaccination. [PubMed abstract](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34316531/) ![Kristen M J Azar, RN, MSN, MPH](https://dyn.mktgcdn.com/p/rFmyR1kiX8JzE5-XNwup0gVC1GRaVTlH7oSDlG0Tr5A/fit=crop,gravity=auto,dpr=2,width=188,height=250,quality=100) Kristen M J Azar, RN, MSN, MPH Principal investigator [View profile](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research/investigators/kristen-m-j-azar-rn-msn-mph-1049680985) ## Research topics - [COVID-19](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research-search-results?query=%22%5C%22COVID-19%5C%22%22) ## Related publications [View all publications](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research-search-results?verticalKey=research_publication) - Publication ### [Unreported SARS-CoV-2 Home Testing and Test Positivity](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research/publications/unreported-sars-cov-2-home-testing-test-positivity-1055312922) JAMA Network Open 2023 Jan 23 - Publication ### [The learning health system in crisis: lessons from the novel coronavirus disease pandemic](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research/publications/lessons-from-the-novel-coronavirus-disease-pandemic-1055312887) Robert J Romanelli, Kristen M J Azar, Sylvia Sudat, Dorothy Hung, Dominick L Frosch, Alice R Pressman Mayo Clin Proc Innov Qual Outcomes. doi: 10.1016/j.mayocpiqo.2020.10.004. Online ahead of print 2020 Oct 29 - Publication ### [Disparities among racially/ethnically marginalized groups in the COVID-19 pandemic persist regardless of statewide shelter-in-place policies: an analysis from northern california](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research/publications/disparities-among-marginalized-groups-in-covid-19-pandemic-1055312827) Kristen M J Azar, Stephen H Lockhart, Zijun Shen, Robert Romanelli, Stephanie Brown, Kelly Smits, Alice R Pressman Am J Epidemiol: kwab191. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwab191. Online ahead of print. 2021 Jul 02 - Publication ### [Duration of Behavioral Policy Interventions and Incidence of COVID-19 by Social Vulnerability of US Counties, April-December 2020](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research/publications/duration-of-behavioral-policy-interventions-covid-19-1055312817) Public Health Reports 2021 Oct 06 - Publication ### [Racial and sociodemographic predictors of COVID-19 compared with influenza, appendicitis, and all-cause hospitalization: retrospective cohort analysis](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research/publications/racial-predictors-covid19-compared-all-cause-hospitalization-1055312873) Ethnicity and Health 2023 Mar 12 [View all publications](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research-search-results?verticalKey=research_publication) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"MedicalOrganization","name":"Sutter Health","@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/#medicalorganization","url":"https://www.sutterhealth.org","logo":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/static/images/sutter-health-logo.svg","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","streetAddress":"2200 River Plaza Drive","addressLocality":"Sacramento","addressRegion":"CA","postalCode":"95833","addressCountry":"US"},"areaServed":{"@type":"AdministrativeArea","name":"California"},"sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/SutterHealth","https://www.instagram.com/sutterhealth/","https://x.com/SutterHealth","https://www.youtube.com/sutterhealth","https://www.linkedin.com/company/sutter-health","https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutter_Health"]} ``` ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/research/publications/measuring-promoting-sars-cov-2-vaccine-equity-1055312863#breadcrumblist","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Research","item":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/research"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Research publications","item":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/research/publications"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Measuring and Promoting SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Equity"}]} ``` ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"MedicalScholarlyArticle","@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/research/publications/measuring-promoting-sars-cov-2-vaccine-equity-1055312863#medicalscholarlyarticle","name":"Measuring and promoting SARS-CoV-2 vaccine equity: development of a COVID-19 vaccine equity index","headline":"Measuring and Promoting SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Equity","abstract":"Purpose: The coronavirus pandemic has created the greatest public health crisis in a century, causing >500,000 deaths in the United States alone. Minoritized and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups have borne a disproportionate burden of severe illness, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19. Recently developed FDA-approved vaccines have been shown to significantly reduce severe COVID-19-related outcomes. Vaccination campaigns have the potential to advance health equity by prioritizing allocation to those at highest risk while striving for herd immunity. Large integrated health systems have been faced with the daunting task of meeting the rapidly evolving needs of diverse patient populations for the provision of population-based testing, treatment, education, and now vaccine distribution. We have designed a COVID-19 vaccine equity index (CVEI) to guide health system vaccination strategy. Methods: We considered proportion unvaccinated within a health care system. We then used real-time readily available electronic health record (EHR) COVID-19 testing positivity and proportion hospitalized to measure burden of illness by race/ethnicity. We used conditional probability and statistical theory to measure equity for unvaccinated individuals and to derive an index to highlight these inequities for specific subgroups. Results: We present an illustrative hypothetical example using simulated data for which we calculated the CVEI for non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic Asian, and Hispanic patients. In the example, non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic patients had inequitable outcomes. 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