A recently released study has concluded that more white veterans seeking treatment for COVID-19 at Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities received advanced therapies than veterans of color.
“In this cohort study that included 43 222 adult veterans hospitalized with COVID-19, Black veterans had lower odds of receiving COVID-19–specific treatments, including steroids, immunomodulators, and antivirals,” researchers wrote. “These findings suggest that variation in treatment contributes to differences in COVID-19 care between Black and White patients.”
Black veterans hospitalized with COVID-19 were less likely to be treated with evidence-based COVID-19 treatments, such as remdesivir, the study found.
The research was published Tuesday in JAMA Network Open.
The treatment differences could be explained by the varying ways the medical facilities approached fighting COVID-19, it found.
“Preexisting inequities in employment, income, housing, and health care access and differences in exposure risk and comorbidity burden have placed minoritized racial and ethnic populations, such as Black and Hispanic individuals, at greater risk for contracting COVID-19 and associated morbidity and mortality,” researchers added.
Black veterans did not go back to the hospital within a month after their release or have a death rate higher than other veterans due to COVID-19, according to the research.
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The Veterans Health Administration should come up with a comprehensive care plan for its facilities to help prevent future care differences, concluded the researchers.
During his monthly press conference on Tuesday, VA Secretary Denis McDonough said while he had not yet read the study, VA outpaced the country in vaccinating patients of color against COVID. He also said VA was involved in a pilot treatment program for Paxlovid, which it has been able to distribute to veterans within five days of a COVID diagnosis.
"Ensuring equitable access to the care that our veterans have earned is a fundamental priority of President Biden's, and we've taken a range of steps to ensure that that continues to be the case," he added.
According to VA officials, more than 781,00 cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed and 23,224 veterans have died.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.
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