IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i23p12708-d693478.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Disproportionate Impact of COVID-19 among Undocumented Immigrants and Racial Minorities in the US

Author

Listed:
  • Mohammad Tawhidul Hasan Bhuiyan

    (Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology, West Palasi, Dhaka 1205, Bangladesh
    Joint first author.)

  • Irtesam Mahmud Khan

    (Department of Computer Science and Engineering, United International University, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
    Joint first author.)

  • Sheikh Saifur Rahman Jony

    (Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology, West Palasi, Dhaka 1205, Bangladesh)

  • Renee Robinson

    (Department of Pharmacy Practice and Administration, University of Alaska Anchorage/Idaho State University, Anchorage, AK 99508, USA)

  • Uyen-Sa D. T. Nguyen

    (Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX 76177, USA)

  • David Keellings

    (Department of Geography, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA)

  • M. Sohel Rahman

    (Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology, West Palasi, Dhaka 1205, Bangladesh
    Joint senior author.)

  • Ubydul Haque

    (Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX 76177, USA
    Joint senior author.)

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus responsible for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has had an unprecedented effect, especially among under-resourced minority communities. Surveillance of those at high risk is critical for preventing and controlling the pandemic. We must better understand the relationships between COVID-19-related cases or deaths and characteristics in our most vulnerable population that put them at risk to target COVID-19 prevention and management efforts. Population characteristics strongly related to United States (US) county-level data on COVID-19 cases and deaths during all stages of the pandemic were identified from the onset of the epidemic and included county-level socio-demographic and comorbidities data, as well as daily meteorological modeled observation data from the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR), and the NARR high spatial resolution model to assess the environment. Advanced machine learning (ML) approaches were used to identify outbreaks (geographic clusters of COVID-19) and included spatiotemporal risk factors and COVID-19 vaccination efforts, especially among vulnerable and underserved communities. COVID-19 outcomes were found to be negatively associated with the number of people vaccinated and positively associated with age, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and the minority population. There was also a strong positive correlation between unauthorized immigrants and the prevalence of COVID-19 cases and deaths. Meteorological variables were also investigated, but correlations with COVID-19 were relatively weak. Our findings suggest that COVID-19 has had a disproportionate impact across the US population among vulnerable and minority communities. Findings also emphasize the importance of vaccinations and tailored public health initiatives (e.g., mask mandates, vaccination) to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and the number of COVID-19 related deaths across all populations.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohammad Tawhidul Hasan Bhuiyan & Irtesam Mahmud Khan & Sheikh Saifur Rahman Jony & Renee Robinson & Uyen-Sa D. T. Nguyen & David Keellings & M. Sohel Rahman & Ubydul Haque, 2021. "The Disproportionate Impact of COVID-19 among Undocumented Immigrants and Racial Minorities in the US," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-13, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:23:p:12708-:d:693478
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/23/12708/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/23/12708/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eva Clark & Karla Fredricks & Laila Woc-Colburn & Maria Elena Bottazzi & Jill Weatherhead, 2020. "Disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on immigrant communities in the United States," PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(7), pages 1-9, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. María José Martos-Méndez & Luis Gómez-Jacinto & Isabel Hombrados-Mendieta & Anabel Melguizo-Garín & Iván Ruiz-Rodríguez, 2022. "Psychosocial and Sociodemographic Determinants Related to Chronic Diseases in Immigrants Residing in Spain," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-15, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hong, Joo Young & Choi, Shinwoo & Cheatham, Gregory A., 2021. "Parental stress of Korean immigrants in the U.S.: Meeting Child and Youth’s educational needs amid the COVID-19 pandemic," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    2. Kimberly M. Horner & Elizabeth Wrigley-Field & Jonathon P. Leider, 2022. "A First Look: Disparities in COVID-19 Mortality Among US-Born and Foreign-Born Minnesota Residents," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(2), pages 465-478, April.
    3. Young, Maria-Elena De Trinidad & Perez-Lua, Fabiola & Sarnoff, Hannah & Plancarte, Vivianna & Goldman-Mellor, Sidra & Payán, Denise Diaz, 2022. "Working around safety net exclusions during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study of rural Latinx immigrants," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 311(C).
    4. Doua Ahmed & Pierina Benavente & Esperanza Diaz, 2023. "Food Insecurity among International Migrants during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(7), pages 1-14, March.
    5. Thomas B. Foster & Leticia Fernandez & Sonya R. Porter & Nikolas Pharris-Ciurej, 2022. "Age, Sex, and Racial/Ethnic Disparities and Temporal-Spatial Variation in Excess All-Cause Mortality During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Linked Administrative and Census Bureau Data," Working Papers 22-18, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    6. Shabnam Iezadi & Kamal Gholipour & Saber Azami-Aghdash & Akbar Ghiasi & Aziz Rezapour & Hamid Pourasghari & Fariba Pashazadeh, 2021. "Effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical public health interventions against COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(11), pages 1-19, November.
    7. Maffly-Kipp, Joseph & Eisenbeck, Nikolett & Carreno, David F. & Hicks, Joshua, 2021. "Mental health inequalities increase as a function of COVID-19 pandemic severity levels," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 285(C).
    8. Berta, P. & Bratti, M. & Fiorio, C.V. & Pisoni, E. & Verzillo, S., 2021. "Administrative border effects in Covid-19 related mortality," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 21/21, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    9. Amanda S. Gilbert & Jason Jabbari & Racquel Hernández, 2022. "How Do Perceived Changes in Child and Adolescent Activities Relate to Perceptions of Health during COVID-19? Exploring Heterogeneity during the Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-17, September.
    10. Hodges, James C. & Calvo, Rocío, 2023. "Teleservices use among Latinx immigrant families during the Covid-19 pandemic," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    11. Muhammad Hassan Bin Afzal, 2021. "An Empirical Analysis of how Internet Access Influences Public Opinion towards Undocumented Immigrants and Unaccompanied Children," Papers 2110.07489, arXiv.org.
    12. Tankut Atuk & Susan L Craddock, 2023. "Social pathologies and urban pathogenicity: Moving towards better pandemic futures," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(9), pages 1668-1689, July.
    13. Leticia Priebe Rocha & Raviv Rose & Annmarie Hoch & Cristiane Soares & Adriana Fernandes & Heloisa Galvão & Jennifer D. Allen, 2021. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Brazilian Immigrant Community in the U.S: Results from a Qualitative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-15, March.
    14. Uliana Kostareva & Cheryl L. Albright & Eva-Maria Berens & Patricia Polansky & Deborah E. Kadish & Luba L. Ivanov & Tetine L. Sentell, 2021. "A Multilingual Integrative Review of Health Literacy in Former Soviet Union, Russian-Speaking Immigrants," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-18, January.
    15. Duncan, Whitney L. & Nabor Vazquez, Lupita, 2023. "‘I don't feel that we are a burden’: Latinx immigrants and deservingness during the COVID-19 pandemic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 333(C).
    16. Sara A. Quandt & Natalie J. LaMonto & Dana C. Mora & Jennifer W. Talton & Paul J. Laurienti & Thomas A. Arcury, 2020. "COVID-19 Pandemic among Latinx Farmworker and Nonfarmworker Families in North Carolina: Knowledge, Risk Perceptions, and Preventive Behaviors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-17, August.
    17. Linda Sayed & Mohammed Alanazi & Kristine J. Ajrouch, 2023. "Self-Reported Cognitive Aging and Well-Being among Older Middle Eastern/Arab American Immigrants during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(11), pages 1-13, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:23:p:12708-:d:693478. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.