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In a troubling sign, rates of COVID-19 vaccinations among Los Angeles County’s youngest eligible Black and Latino residents are significantly lower than for other racial and ethnic groups, and officials are expanding efforts to make shots available across the region.

Among people 16 and older, only 41% of Black residents and 48% of Latino residents in L.A. County have received at least one shot; by contrast, 63% of white, 59% of Native American and 71% of Asian American residents are at least partially vaccinated. Countywide, 64% of residents in this age group have received at least one dose of vaccine.

The disparities are contributing to the increased chance of infection, hospitalization and death among Black and Latino residents from COVID-19.

Black residents are now about twice as likely, and Latinos about 60% more likely, to be hospitalized with COVID-19 than white residents in L.A. County. Black and Latino residents also have roughly twice the risk of dying from COVID-19 than white residents in the county.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.