We have a new study preprint analyzing the “Social and racial inequalities in COVID-19 risk of hospitalisation and death across Sao Paulo state, Brazil”.

In this paper, we combine epidemiological, serological, household survey, NPI & mobility data to 1) Estimate the social and racial inequalities in the risk of hospitalization and death by COVID-19, and 2) Show how vulnerability to COVID is shaped by preexisting social and health inequalities.

Our findings show that vulnerability to COVID-19 is strongly shaped by preexisting health inequalities. We find black and low-income communities (big overlap here) are disproportionately more likely to be hospitalized and to die from COVID. This is largely due to structural social and health inequities that lead these groups to have more comorbidities, and to live under socioeconomic conditions that limit their access to health services and their capacity to adhere to social distancing. One of the key takeaways from the study is that disadvantaged groups (alongside healthcare workers) should be prioritized in COVID-19 vaccination campaigns. This would be optimal both to prevent and slow down community transmission AND to help reduce health inequities.

You may find a more detailed summary the main findings and figures of the paper in these Twitter threads in English and in Portuguese. For more info on the context, data, methods, findings and discussion, check out the preprint itself.

New study preprint analyzing the "Social and racial inequalities in #COVID19 risk of hospitalisation and death across Sao Paulo state, Brazil" https://t.co/V7HDPZ9xvC Another study by the @CaddeProject team, this one co-led by @sabrinalyli @CarlosPrete1 and I.
🧶with main results pic.twitter.com/hfFIgW9JCs

— Rafael H.M. Pereira 🚡 Urban Demographics (@UrbanDemog) December 14, 2020