Marion County’s Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, contracting the virus at more than three times the rate of white individuals.
Case rates continue to skyrocket, and Islanders are being hospitalized and dying at nearly twice the rate of any other race or ethnicity.
Similar patterns have been seen nationally and statewide.
Despite that, citing federal discrimination laws, the Oregon Health Authority has declined to prioritize racial groups for vaccine distribution, adding to a long list of barriers facing these communities.
Read the full story, including input from area Islander leaders, here.
Natalie Pate 