COVID-19 Vulnerability Index

Keywords: COVID-19, Medical, Health, Urban, Disparities, Inequities, Spatial
Session Type: Virtual Poster Abstract
Day: Friday
Session Start / End Time: 2/25/2022 05:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/25/2022 06:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 21

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic wrought devastating economic, health, and social impacts across the globe. However, the impacts of the pandemic were heterogeneously distributed by country and also individuals. Based on our knowledge to this point in time, we know that people with specific characteristics are disproportionately impacted. Specifically, older people, minorities, people with pre-existing conditions, and low-income people, who are more likely to be essential workers, are at higher risk of contracting COVID-19. Given this risk profile and the multitude of impacts related to the pandemic, it is important to identify places with concentrations of people at higher risk of contracting COVID-19. To achieve this goal, this study uses information about risk factors for COVID-19 (e.g . age, preexisting conditions, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic characteristics) to construct a Census tract-level index of vulnerability. Using this tract-level index, this paper will assess the vulnerability of tracts to COVID-19 to identify places that are at the highest risk. This analysis is important to planning for future waves of COVID cases as the virus contains to mutate and variants propagate. It may also provide useful information about health vulnerability in the future for viruses that behave in similar ways to COVID-19.