Whites Twice as Likely to Die of COVID in California Than Non-Whites

A mysterious finding

San Jose Mercury News reports an unusual COVID pattern detected in California.

What is interesting is that despite comprising only 37% of Californians, White people account for 60% of all COVID deaths during the recent period.

The article compares Feb-Aug 2020 (highlighted in blue) vs. Sep 2023 through Feb 2024 (highlighted in red).

The results for 2020 confirm a modest advantage that we would expect from the “white privilege”: Whites comprised only 30% of deaths despite being 37% of the population.

Whites were able to mitigate the effects of the pandemic due to a more privileged position: belonging to the ”laptop class,” not working in as many customer-facing jobs, having better medical insurance, living in less dense housing, and so on. So, it is not a surprise that in 2020, White people were slightly less likely to die from Covid (30% of deaths despite being 37% of the population).

The real surprise is what is happening in 2024. While the overall number of COVID deaths thankfully declined, deaths among White people (59.48%) account for much more than their share of the population (37%)!

The Whites’ share of COVID deaths doubled from 30% in 2020 to 60% in 2024.

Why would that be?

COVID Vaccines

Is it a coincidence that White people are also more vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19?

https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/latest-data-on-covid-19-vaccinations-by-race-ethnicity/

The more vaccinated and boosted race in California is accounting for GREATER share of Covid deaths compared to their share of the population. Meanwhile, Black and Hispanic Californians, who are less vaccinated, account for fewer deaths than their share of the population would suggest.

A coincidence? If so, it continues a long line of other subpopulations where higher vaccination rates are associated with greater mortality:

Excess Mortality Still Correlated With COVID Vaccination Rate - Dec 2023 data

Remember the economic advantages I mentioned that made White people have fewer deaths in 2020? Those have not changed in 2024: the laptop class, better medical care, less dense housing, etc, are still disproportionally available to White people.

And yet, despite those advantages, in 2024, Whites are more likely to die of Covid than their less privileged, and also less vaccinated, Hispanic and Black counterparts! The “white privilege” mysteriously stopped working after the whites were disproportionately vaccinated.

We were told that Covid vaccines save lives. If so, can we ask why they make the groups that received more of them more likely to suffer COVID deaths?

Any thoughts?