SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – Since communities of color were disproportionately hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, does that mean those communities are also experiencing higher rates of Long COVID?
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That's one of the key questions that UCSF researchers are exploring in a recent study, the results of which could impact healthcare funding in underserved parts of the Bay Area.
Throughout the pandemic, UCSF Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics Dr. Kim Rhoads has been focusing on healthcare delivery for communities of color.
Now she's partnering with the San Francisco and San Mateo Public Health Departments to ask people directly about their experiences with Long COVID.
The early findings suggest many of their symptoms aren’t being taken seriously.
"What we're really hearing is a lot of discounting and a lack of validation of people’s real experiences with Long COVID, and I think that that makes it hard for people to come forward to suggest that they may have something going on," she told KCBS Radio's "As Prescribed."
"People are seeking care and are being told things like – well, you’re just getting older," Dr. Rhoads explained.
She's also concerned that President Joe Biden's declaration that the pandemic is over could be setting the scene for a rollback of funding for COVID services.
"When President Biden made that statement, he was really starting to set the tone of the narrative that effectively says if COVID is over there's no reason for the federal government to fund our efforts to reduce the transmission," she explained.
"I think that’s going to have a significant negative impact on communities of color – largely because that's where we find the frontline workers," she added.
If you would like to participate in the UCSF study, please call 415-353-9306.
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